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Senior Citizen Politics
Health Reform Bill Passage Hailed by Senior Citizen
Advocates for Its Benefits for Seniors
Seniors laud plugging ‘donut hole’, paying for more
Medicare preventive services
 March 22, 2010 – Virtually all the groups that
represent or advocate for seniors citizens expressed their satisfaction
that the Health Reform Bill was passed Sunday by the House of
Representatives and pointed out specific benefits for seniors. Joining
them in expressing thanks to the Democratic congressman who passed was
the American Medical Association, a key group among the hundreds that
backed the legislation.
"We applaud the House for passing this critical
legislation to make our health care system work for more Americans,”
said Barry Rand, CEO of AARP.
“Both chambers have now passed a bill that will
make health care more affordable for American families, strictly limit
insurance companies from denying affordable coverage because of age or
medical history, and protect and strengthen the benefits promised to
people in Medicare,” said Barry Rand, CEO of AARP..
J. James Rohack, MD, AMA President, said yesterday,
“Today is an important step toward providing coverage to all Americans
and improving our nation’s health system.
“Every day physicians see the devastating effect
being uninsured has on the health of our patients. Physicians dedicate
their lives to helping patients, and we have an historic opportunity now
to do just that.”
Joe Baker, President, Medicare Rights Center, said,
“The courageous lawmakers who voted for this bill are delivering real
benefits for their constituents, especially those who rely on Medicare
for their health care.
“People with Medicare will save hundreds of dollars
each year as the coverage gap in the Medicare drug benefit is phased
out. They will have better access to preventive services and primary
care. Hospitals and doctors will have new incentives to provide
high-quality, coordinated care that will help people with Medicare
manage chronic conditions. Medicare's finances will be stronger and the
budget deficit will be reduced.”
What the bill will mean
for senior citizens
Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the
Alliance for Retired Americans, expressed his pleasure with passage
of the bill and noted some of the benefits for senior citizens.
"Today's historic vote is a bold step toward
helping our nation's retirees enjoy longer, healthier lives. It will
help seniors better afford to see a doctor and get a prescription
filled.
"This landmark act will help current and future
retirees in several specific ways:
● Closing the
Medicare "doughnut hole" coverage gap so seniors will no longer have
to cut dangerous corners on their medications;
● Eliminating
co-pays for preventive screenings to help older Americans more
quickly and affordably identify and treat diseases such as cancer and
diabetes;
● Cutting wasteful
spending to extend the life of the Medicare Trust Fund so seniors
can better afford premiums which have doubled over the past eight years;
and
● Reducing costly
health problems by assisting pre-Medicare retirees with insurance costs
and banning discrimination based on pre-existing conditions.
"This was not an easy vote for some House members.
Retirees owe a debt of gratitude to those who displayed political
courage by standing up to an insurance industry willing to pay any price
to protect its record profits.
Kaiser Health News today published an article
entitled, “Consumers
Guide to Health Reform,” which also identifies some of the key
changes that will be beneficial to senior citizens.
“The Medicare prescription-drug benefit would be
improved substantially. This year, seniors who enter the Part D coverage
gap, known as the ‘doughnut hole,’ would get $250 to help pay for their
medications.
“Beyond that, drug company-discounts on brand-name
drugs and federal subsidies and discounts for all drugs would gradually
reduce the gap, eliminating it by 2020. That means that seniors, who now
pay 100 percent of their drug costs once they hit the doughnut hole,
would pay 25 percent.
“And, as under current law, once seniors spend a
certain amount on medications, they would get ‘catastrophic’ coverage
and pay only 5 percent of the cost of their medications.
“Meanwhile, government payments to Medicare
Advantage, the private-plan part of Medicare, would be cut sharply
starting in 2011. If you're one of the 10 million enrollees, you could
lose extra benefits that many of the plans offer, such as free
eyeglasses, hearing aids and gym memberships. To cushion the blow to
beneficiaries, the cuts to health plans in high-cost areas of the
country such as New York City and South Florida – where seniors have
enjoyed the richest benefits -- would be phased in over as many as seven
years.
“Beginning this year, the bill would make all
Medicare preventive services, such as screenings for colon, prostate and
breast cancer, free to beneficiaries.”
Changes taking effect this
year
Some of the items that go into effect in the first
year and that impact more than just senior citizens include:
● Discounts and free care in Medicare: The
approximately 4 million Medicare beneficiaries who hit the so-called
“doughnut hole” in the program’s drug plan will get a $250 rebate this
year. Next year, their cost of drugs in the coverage gap will go down by
50 percent. Preventive care, such as some types of cancer screening,
will be free of co-payments or deductibles starting this year.
● New help for some uninsured: People with
a medical condition that has left them uninsurable may be able to enroll
in a new federally subsidized insurance program that is to be
established within 90 days. The legislation appropriates $5 billion for
this, although that may not be enough to cover all who apply; it's not
clear how much consumers would pay as their share of the cost. About
200,000 people are covered in similar state programs currently, at an
estimated cost of $1 billion a year, says Karen Pollitz, a research
professor at Georgetown University.
● Coverage of kids: Parents will be
allowed to keep their children on their health insurance plan until age
26, unless the child is eligible for coverage through a job. Insurance
plans cannot exclude pre-existing medical conditions from coverage for
children under age 19, although insurers could still reject those
children outright for coverage in the individual market until 2014.
● Tax credits for businesses: Businesses
with fewer than 25 employees and average wages of less than $50,000
could qualify for a tax credit of up to 35 percent of the cost of their
premiums.
● Changes to insurance: All existing
insurance plans will be barred from imposing lifetime caps on coverage.
Restrictions will also be placed on annual limits on coverage. Insurers
can no longer cancel insurance retroactively for things other than
outright fraud.
● Government oversight: Insurers must
report how much they spend on medical care versus administrative costs,
a step that later will be followed by tighter government review of
premium increases.
(More at
The Immediate Effects of the Health Reform Bill at Kaiser Health
News)
|
 Parts
if this
information was reprinted from
kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up
for email delivery. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All
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