Romney picks Paul Ryan as his running mate **official thread**

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Decent pick. I think we have a real choice in this election so that's a good thing.

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I don't see why people think Ryan will help in Ohio. Is it a state that is very concerned about deficits? I don't think so. They are concerned about jobs and outsourcing and Romney is not their sort of candidate. Does Ryan do anything to change that? I don't really think so. Also isn't Ohio an older state? That would cut against Ryan as well. Overall I see about the same effect on Ohio as Ryan will have on the country at large.

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One of my biggest problems with the Ryan plan is turning over Medicare to private insurance. As has been pointed out earlier their medical loss ratio is way higher than Medicare. So just by switching from traditional Medicare to private insurance leads to a waste of money, unless we cap the medical loss ratio at 5% of premiums. This is very much possible, and do believe that is how it is done in Switzerland, but considering the complaining from insurance companies about Obamacare capping it at 15-20%, I don't know if it is likely.

Then we have the capping of premium support with growth tied to the CPI. I think there were some changes with the version Wyden endorsed but I am still unclear whether the government would negotiate with insurance companies as to how much premium they can charge for a basket of goods and then increase the rate of increase in premium support if necessary. So if all the insurance companies decide they need to increase their premiums by more than CPI (which is inevitable unless we solve the healthcare inflation issue), would the premium support also increase by that much or will seniors have to pay the difference?

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Defined contribution plans are dangerous unless there is a cap on how much patients pay. How much co-pay can be charged by the insurance companies in Ryan's plan? Is there any cap on how much is spent by patients?

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Or alternatively, instead of raising premiums when costs go above GDP+1% (which is in the latest Ryan plan version), could the insurance company just raise co-pays?

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Yeah, it looks like there are very few safeguards in preventing people slipping through the cracks. It's not even a basic safety net if that happens. Moreover it adds another layer of complexity to our healthcare system. What I found most amusing is the plan to try and ensure those who get lower risk seniors get punished and those with a higher risk pool get helped. I have an even better idea to solve that "problem", just have one damn pool! Like it is currently....

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The real issue is to figure out how to get our health care spending down to the levels seen in the rest of the OECD. There is no one single answer for that. Our healthcare system is too fragmented, doctors are paid for service not outcomes and they conduct too many tests to cover their butts due to our tort laws. We also like to suck up to corporations due to our wonderful campaign financing system, and so Medicare cannot negotiate drug prices aggressively like other nations do. And there are more problems I am sure, but these are some I can see.

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Yes, the Ryan-Wyden plan is much more palatable. I still don't see the need for the competition between insurers since Medicare currently can get better rates from providers than individual insurers can due to their higher buying power. Indeed the rate Medicare pays is the starting point of insurers when negotiating with hospitals about reimbursement. And depending on size they pay a little more or a lot more than Medicare. By fragmenting the system further, we increase the power of providers to charge higher rates.

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Wow that's ridiculous. Since he is based in BH, he is just milking his patient population. Especially for something like blood pressure medication, which once you get on you usually keep taking it for life. All it should take is a simple electronic refill renewal request from your pharmacy.....