New York – No one is “pulling the plug on granny” under the health care bill President Obama signed this week. If anything, experts say, granny will soon be pulling down new benefits.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
While Obama’s health care overhaul does eventually trim subsidies to Medicare Advantage – which are privately managed policies that some seniors pay extra for – older Americans should see little or no decline in care.
New York’s 2.8 million Medicare beneficiaries should actually find several new goodies in the new law, among them $250 rebates this year to help fill the so-called “doughnut hole” in prescription drug coverage.
“This health reform improves benefits, it does not take away benefits, for seniors,” said Tricia Neuman, vice president for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. “It strengthens Medicare by keeping it fiscally stronger for longer, and it puts in place reforms that should genuinely improve quality of care.”
The new law also eliminates co-pays for checkups and other preventive procedures under Medicare starting in 2011 and guarantees balanced books for Medicare through at least 2026.
There are changes in store for Medicare Advantage – privately run plans that some 360,000 city seniors pay a little extra for.
The policies were created in the 1980s, when private insurers argued they could meet or beat Medicare’s services in exchange for federal dollars that were about 5% less than regular Medicare.
Today, the math is reversed: Taxpayers fork over 14% more to Medicare Advantage companies to care for seniors – a $12 billion pot that Obama called an unnecessary windfall for the industry.
The law will freeze Medicare Advantage payments to insurers in 2011, then gradually align them with regular Medicare payments by 2014.
Some have worried that the trims could force Medicare Advantage plans to raise premiums, but experts say it’s unlikely – the bill also includes cash bonuses for companies that keep costs down and health up.
“What we hope will happen is a race to the top among plans that really want … to get those additional bonus payments,” said Joe Baker, president of the nonpartisan Medicare Rights Center.
OK so that was on one of the 1000 pages of this bill, did you read the rest and decipher it? I am sure its not any less complicated then all the IRS documentation we get. (add this and look on page …. to subtract from page… and if you dont have page… then call the number on page….)
Interesting article, but not everything is true. Most medicare advantage plans do not charge the seniors anything, all they do is take over the responsibility from medicare. Some companies may offer medicare supplemental plans that charge extra, but that is not the typical medicare advantage plan.
Recently, in an effort TO SAVE MONEY, New York started forcing medicaid (for low income people) recepients to sign up through private companies (there is a list showing a few catagories of people that don’t have to switch). If it was costing medicare more, I dought New York would force medicaid recepients to switch. This just started in the last year or two, so it’s hard to say they were going on the medicare studies from years ago.
This is entirely misleading. The fact is that, beginning in 2012, Medicare funding for nursing home care and home care will be cut drastically. This means that elderly people who need skilled care will not get Medicare funding necessary either for nursing home or home care.
Medicare will also drastically slash coverage for diagnostic tests. This means that senior citizens who need diagnostic tests, such as an MRI or CT scan probably will not be able to get it at all since most, if not all, labs, will not provide such testing because Medicare reimbursements will be below the costs of these tests. Most ominously, Medicare will drastically cut funding for dialysis. Therefore, those whose kidneys have failed, will be denied dialysis unless they can afford the incredible cost of dialysis themselves.
Finally, Medicaid reimbursement for the above will also be cut, but only for senior citizens.
Yes, Granny will be thrown under the bus under the Obama health care program. The philosophy underlying these cuts is that health costs can be reduced by reducing care to the elderly, whose medical care is more costly overall than those of younger patients.
Vote obama who things he’s a dictator out together with the left wing radical democrats. Enough is enough. Vote for republicans who care about this great country enough falling for obama’s lies wake up!
This obamacare is gonna cost us big time. Its almost Kedei not work and live off obama!
do the math u can’t believe that benifits will increase at the same time you are cutting 1/2 a billion dollars out of the system
I would hope this increases benifits, after all, communism is all about giving everyone what they need.
I am becoming more and more convinced that the British National Health Service, with its “conception to grave” philosophy , is the best way forward.
People pay a small percentage of their monthly income, from the day they start their working lives until they retire. Each and every (legal) resident of the United Kingdom is entitled to all medical services, free at the point of use.
Prescriptions for medications are charged at a flat rate of £7.20 an item for people aged between 17 to 60. Patients outside that age group get all their drugs and medications free of charge.
If a patient decides that, in spite of all that, he/she prefers to consult a physician or surgeon privately there are plenty of (fairly expensive) insurance schemes available.
The NEJM had a detailed article regarding fiberoptic knee surgery and so called sham operations. Patients after the sham procedure did find relief. There is a placebo effect and physicans perform many sham procedures for which they are paid in full
My grandson just came for lunch and brought along a chocolate leben which he finished. The container gives a breakdown of the ingridients including the sodium content. This little container showed 250 mg of sodium, cholov yisroel. Does this item need so much sodium , no. However, the sodium content prolongs the shelf life and is good for the manufacturer but not good for the kidneys of a small boy.
complaints about unecessary procedures and fraund in no way justify this type of healthcare takeover it just bring to light the imability of the govt to oversee their one program govt is the most inafficient of any type of organization . In NY OTB is closing. IF YOU CANT MAKE MONEY RUNNING A GAMBLING OPERTIONS YOU HAVE NO BUSSINESS RUNNIG ANYTHING
That’s right, they won’t pull the plug because “Granny” will never have the chance to be hooked up in the first place. They will eliminate this pesky drain on resources that could better serve someone younger even if that someone is a drug user, criminal or mindless idiot who crashed while DWI.