Outlook bleak for seniors

Republican budget committee chairman Paul Ryan wants to save our grandchildren from the national debt by having their grandparents die early from a lack of end of life health care. He wants to give the grandparents a government coupon and send them to private insurance companies and HMOs. These profit-making corporations will gladly take the coupons and, when the limits are reached, deny further payments for the extended care that seniors require.

Families that want to keep grandma alive for a few more years will have to dig into their own pockets to replace Medicare. So much for the Republican claims that their economic policies let you keep more of your money.

While Ryan is throwing old people under the bus, his plan will borrow trillions of dollars for tax breaks to the largest and most powerful corporations. We should know by now when politicians claim good deeds for children, the troops or seniors, they intend to line the pockets of the powerful special interests.

Ryan also claims that health care costs will be reduced by competition. What that really means is that health care workers will be paid lower wages with fewer benefits. Profits are never reduced by competition.

Pete Scobby

Newport