Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum says it’s time to eliminate the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Programs administered at least in part by CMS account for the most of the funding delivered to the nation’s nursing facilities.
During a January interview on CNN, Santorum said he would welcome the growth of private sector health plans that would compete with Medicare.
“You want to get rid of this — of CMS [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services], where government basically micromanages all healthcare through Medicare and Medicaid,” he said.
Santorum said Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) proposal to convert Medicare to a voucher system is similar to what many seniors now experience when they purchase policies sold by private insurance companies to fill “gaps” in their Medicare coverage.
From the February 01, 2012 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News