[quote=pri_dk]Another concise summary of the situation:
Let me also highlight another point from that passage: Ryan warns that if we don’t deal with our fiscal problems, we’ll have to raise taxes and cut benefits for seniors. So what can we do to reduce the deficit? Well, government spending is dominated by the big 5: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense, and interest payments; you can’t make a significant dent in the deficit without either raising taxes or cutting those big 5. Defense is untouchable, says the GOP; so that leaves the entitlement programs. And 2.7 of the three entitlement programs are benefits to seniors (70 percent of Medicaid spending goes on seniors).
So let’s see: to avoid cuts in benefits to seniors, we must … cut benefits to seniors.[/quote]
I’m pretty sure that Krugman is wrong in his assertion that 70 percent of Medicaid spending goes to seniors. 30 to 40 percent would be a better estimate. Maybe he’s referring to a 2030 or a 2050 forecast (a lot of future growth in Medicaid spending will come from long-term nursing care for elderly and disabled).
