NY Times columnist Paul Krugman's last point is that it is a complete fabrication that anything needs to be done about Medicare at all. The author of this particular lie is Paul Ryan and his ilk, who have perpetuated the fiction that there is a valid economic concern about it. Reality check from Krugman: "Medicare is actually more efficientt han private insurance, mainly because it doesn’t spend large sums on overhead and marketing, and, of course, it needn’t make room for profits."