Medicare as we know it is in imminent danger. If all goes according to plan, Medicare’s guarantee of quality health care for retirees will be replaced with vouchers and a firm faith that the lives of seniors will fall on the right side of an insurance company’s cost-benefit analysis.

U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., the proposed secretary of health and human services, announced recently that Medicare is due for an overhaul, according to The Hill (“Overnight Healthcare: GOP eyes repeal and delay for ObamaCare,” Nov. 17).

No details were offered, but House Speaker Paul Ryan has a detailed plan to rid the government of responsibility for Medicare. Check out his website (paulryan.house.gov). With Price in charge, chances are looking good that Ryan’s divestment dreams will come true, and soon.

The Medicare decision could be made within the first eight months of 2017, Price said.

It’s a foregone conclusion that the Affordable Care Act will be dismantled quickly when the Trump administration takes office. The people who need that benefit most — sick, disabled, unemployed and children in the CHIP program — aren’t in much of a position to speak up for themselves.

But maybe there’s hope for Medicare. If you want to save it, call your senators and representatives and demand they protect Medicare in its current form.

Don’t let this privatization scheme pass without a fight.