Thomas Jefferson said, “It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes.” What an interesting comment from one of the most brilliant men to ever be president.

Recently, the trustees of the Medicare trust fund predicted that, because of the new health care bill, the trust fund would last 12 more years to 2029. Their assumptions are based on the reduced payments to providers of health services. The chief actuary, Richard Foster, however, challenged the assumptions of the trustees. He said the basis for their conclusions assumed that doctors would be required to take a 29 percent reduction in pay when treating Medicare patients. The second assumption was that the savings from the reduced fees by doctors would be added to the trust fund. Mr. Foster pointed out that Congress has never allowed previous scheduled cuts to doctors to take place, and with the shortage of doctors, he didn’t think it would take place now, thus believing Medicare would run into serious problems much earlier than 2029.

If you were a doctor and had a choice to select your patients would you select patients who pay your fee of $100 or the one who pays $70 for the same service? Is this the beginning of rationing for seniors? This is just one question concerning the recent health bill passed by our Congress. There are many other features that are going to drive up our costs for health care in this bill. Over 50 percent of the American people are against this plan. Ask Tim Walz, our current congressman, how he voted. Is he truly representing the people in southern Minnesota?

Alan Arends

co-chairman

Freeborn County

Republican Party

Albert Lea