COLUMN: Paul Ryan's Medicare proposal bad for seniors, couples

Proponents of Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare proposal have said that people older than 55 would not be affected by his proposal to change Medicare into a voucher system. They forgot about the Medisplit Effect. My wife and I represent the perfect paradigm for this effect. I will be 55 before the end of the year, but my wife is younger. So, while I will get Medicare, my wife, under Ryan’s plan, will get a voucher to buy private insurance, and it will cost my family an extra $6,400 to $7,000 per year after 2022. This Medisplit Effect, depending on the age of someone's spouse, could still drastically affect people 55 and older. It is disingenuous for Ryan or anybody else to suggest otherwise.