Rejected on Social Security, Bush Stealthily Tries to Privatize Medicare

Two years after the American people rejected the Bush administration's plan to privatize Social Security, the White House now is trying quietly to privatize Medicare.

Here's how: The Republican Congress gave big insurance companies that provide Medicare insurance what amounts to a huge subsidy under the so-called "Medicare Advantage" program. These private insurers were supposed to introduce competition into the Medicare system and reduce costs.