Thursday, September 30, 2004
A WaPo Primer for Tonight's First Debate
Somewhat fair in the sense that the Post included some misleadisments from both campaigns.
The inevitable complaint follows (and not the non-sequitor of the votes being "bipartisan".)
Each man blames the other for the recently announced 17 percent jump in 2005 premiums -- and neither is being fair. When Bush accuses Kerry of voting five times to raise premiums, he's counting votes on spending bills that, among other things, retained a formula setting premiums at one-quarter the total cost. In all but one instance, the votes were bipartisan.
Similarly, Bush cannot be blamed for the formula or rising health costs overall. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a federal agency, estimated that 9.9 percent of the increase was due to changes in the law Bush signed, namely higher payments to physicians and managed care companies
The increase was 17%. CMMS says 9.9% of that was due to the Prescription drug coverage (What? It ain't free?!?!?!) This means that the rx bill represented 1.68 percentage points of the 17 percentage point increase. That is insignicant. The dollar increase was $11.65 for the 17% increase. ($78.20 -($78.20/ 1.175) = $11.65)
$11.65*.0168=$0.1957
Using WaPo's numbers, the rx bill account for only 20 cents of the increase.
NOW if what WaPo really meant to report was that the CMMS figure was 9.9 percentage points of the 17 percentage point increase, then it is a little more expensive ($11.65 times 9.9/17.5 = $6.59). (But dramatics would have been improved by phrasing it as a 57% of the increase.)
Either way, seniors benefit. It may not be a total free ride but they are certainly getting more than they pay for.
Somewhat fair in the sense that the Post included some misleadisments from both campaigns.
The inevitable complaint follows (and not the non-sequitor of the votes being "bipartisan".)
Each man blames the other for the recently announced 17 percent jump in 2005 premiums -- and neither is being fair. When Bush accuses Kerry of voting five times to raise premiums, he's counting votes on spending bills that, among other things, retained a formula setting premiums at one-quarter the total cost. In all but one instance, the votes were bipartisan.
Similarly, Bush cannot be blamed for the formula or rising health costs overall. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a federal agency, estimated that 9.9 percent of the increase was due to changes in the law Bush signed, namely higher payments to physicians and managed care companies
The increase was 17%. CMMS says 9.9% of that was due to the Prescription drug coverage (What? It ain't free?!?!?!) This means that the rx bill represented 1.68 percentage points of the 17 percentage point increase. That is insignicant. The dollar increase was $11.65 for the 17% increase. ($78.20 -($78.20/ 1.175) = $11.65)
$11.65*.0168=$0.1957
Using WaPo's numbers, the rx bill account for only 20 cents of the increase.
NOW if what WaPo really meant to report was that the CMMS figure was 9.9 percentage points of the 17 percentage point increase, then it is a little more expensive ($11.65 times 9.9/17.5 = $6.59). (But dramatics would have been improved by phrasing it as a 57% of the increase.)
Either way, seniors benefit. It may not be a total free ride but they are certainly getting more than they pay for.
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