Re: “How To Pay For Adding Dental, Vision, and Hearing to Medicare,” Larry Penner.
The author fails to ask and answer a number of critical questions re: his “fiscally responsible” way to pay for it.
Has a study been conducted to determine how great is the need vs. the actual cost?
How many retirees have union benefits already paying for DV and H?
Will insurance companies be forced to provide it or is it voluntary?
What about those that have pre-existing – and costly – conditions? Such as glaucoma? Discriminatory nerve deafness? Macular degeneration? Bone loss? Gum disease?
Will provider participation be optional or mandatory?
How are providers supposed to be reimbursed?
How much will kit cost to set up computer systems to track/pay for these benefits?
Why is the author, who has taken decidedly Libertarian positions, so anxious to raise my taxes?
Do I have anything to say about my taxes being raised? Or will it be involuntary?
What about those on Medicare who don’t want their taxes raised?
Why is it that any project the author is against he cost analyses the bejeebers out of it but any project he is favor of there’s always money for it?
Nat Weiner
Bronx
