There is a real and imminent threat to destroy Medicare and Medicaid as it presently exists.
House Speaker Paul Ryan has said that he would pass legislation in early 2017 that would end Medicare’s guaranteed health care benefits. President-Elect Trump has nominated Tom Price to be the Secretary of HHS. Price is the architect of the Republican plan. Speaker Ryan has said that he would bury the Medicare changes in the legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. These following plans are on the website of Speaker Ryan. They include:
End Medicare’s Guaranteed Benefits:
* Raise the Medicare Eligibility Age from 65 to 67: this would impact 5 million seniors insurance starting in 2020. By age 65 most Americans have at least one chronic medical condition that would make the purchase of private insurance prohibitively expensive and hard to obtain.
* Vouchers or Coupon-care: Instead of a Medicare card, seniors would receive a limited voucher or coupon. These coupons would contribute toward the purchase of a traditional Medicare plan or a private insurance policy and would require beneficiaries to pay significantly more out-of-pocket.
* Medigap Plans Will Cover Less: Today Medigap insurance plans are allowed to cover most of a beneficiary’s co-payments. the Coupon-Care Plan would not allow Medigap policies to cover deductibles. Also, Medigap plans would be limited in how much of the difference between deductible and the out of pocket cap could be covered.
* Costs Shifted to Seniors: Speaker Ryan’s Coupon-Care Voucher Plan would double hospital stay copayments and would substantially increase all deductibles.
Gutting Medicaid:
* Medicaid pays the long-term care costs for millions of seniors and provides health care services to people with disabilities and low-income Americans
* Ryan and Price’s vision includes drastic changes to states’ Medicaid programs, as well as 25% cuts in funding. States would be forced to cut benefits to their most vulnerable people or increase state taxes to make up the difference.
If the ACA is Repealed, What Happens to Medicare and Seniors?
* End to Free Annual Wellness Exams: Since 2011 the ACA has allowed free annual wellness exams; before there was a one-time free check-up when first joining Medicare.
* End to Free Preventive Screenings: Since 2011, Medicare beneficiaries have not been required to pay for any portion of Medicare-covered preventive services recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force – includes the deductible for colorectal cancer screening.
* End of Prescription Drug Discounts: prior to the ACA, when beneficiaries fell into the doughnut hole, they had to pay 100% of the costs of prescription medications. The ACA provides drug discounts and subsidies to help fill in the doughnut hole. In 2017, the doughnut hole will be between $3700 and $4950. Under the ACA, by 2020 the doughnut hole will be closed.
* No Protections against Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions.
* No Protections against Rising Insurance Prices.
Please note: The real and official name of the health care law is the PPACA, i.e. The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act.
The above information is provided by the Alliance for Retired Americans.
The following are talking points that you can use when coversing about the issues:
Medicare Talking Points
Do NOT Raise the Medicare Eligibility Age
* Raising the age from 65 t0 67 would deny 5 million seniors insurance starting in 2030. Those 65 years or older with a chronic health condition will find private insurance prohibitively expensive and difficult to get. These people will be forced to remain in or find a job that provides coverage at a time when it is difficult to find employment; pay for coverage themselves; or become impoverished to eligibility for Medicaid provided MO makes it available.
Do NOT Replace Guaranteed Medicare Benefits with a Voucher.
* Medicare cards will be replaced with a limited voucher to purchase traditional Medicare or insurance in the private marketplace. There is no guarantee that the value of vouchers will increase with inflation thus increasing the amount of money seniors have to spend on health care.
NO Changes to Medigap or Supplemental Insurance.
* Eliminating first dollar deductible coverage or limiting the amount of health care costs that Medigap can cover will not bring down health care costs. It will shift costs from insurance corporations to beneficiaries.
* Limiting Medigap coverage will penalize those who can least afford it –the oldest, sickest and chronically ill.
Reject Schemes to Shift Medicare costs to Seniors.
* Combining Medicare Part A and B deductibles will increase the yearly deductible for beneficiaries who don’t go to the hospital by as much as $400.
* A single deductible will increase hospital copays from 10% to 20%.
Congress should enact the Medicare drug rebate program.
* the Medicare Drug Savings Act, which would require drug companies to provide discounts to the federal government for low-income Medicare beneficiaries, can save the government and taxpayers $121 billion over 10 years.
* This is a common sense measure that will save the Medicare program money without harming beneficiaries.
Medicare Benefits Should NOT be Further Means Tested.
* Medicare Parts B and D are already means tested for individuals with incomes over $85,000 and couples with incomes over $170,000. More means testing is a direct attack on the middle class as it will hit individuals making as little as $47,000.
Medicaid Talking Points
Do Not Cut Health Insurance for the Most Vulnerable Americans to Pay for Tax Cuts for the Wealthy and Big Corporations.
* Medicaid covers 62% of all long term care costs in the United States. Slashing funding to states by one-third will harm seniors and people with disabilities who rely on the program for their nursing home and home care costs.
* Ryan and Price will also make dramatic cuts to Medicaid, the health care safety net for low-income women, children, seniors and people with disabilities.
Information is provided by the Alliance for Retired Americans.
Questions or more information: email: jp-dem@sbcglobal.net
Submitted by Judith Parker