The Alliance for Retired Americans stands with other aging organizations in defending a health reform plan that protects and strengthens Medicare. Despite bogus claims from health reform opponents, many seniors realize that so-called cuts to Medicare aim at vast overpayments to insurance companies NOT at care for seniors.
Insurance and drug companies have a vested interest in scaring seniors about health insurance reform and that's exactly what they have done.
When Congress opened up Medicare to private plans, it was based on a claim that the private health insurance industry would be more efficient, provide more coordinated care for seniors/disabled, and cost taxpayers and beneficiaries less than the traditional Medicare program.
The promises of efficiencies and lower costs turned out to be false - Medicare now pays private Medicare Advantage plans more than it would cost to cover the same beneficiaries via the traditional Medicare program. According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), private plans are paid an average of 12 percent more than the cost of traditional Medicare to cover the same person. Private Medicare Advantage fee-for-service plans are paid on average 19 percent more than the traditional Medicare fee-for service program.
Overpayments to the private insurance industry hurt Medicare's financial health. Enrollment in private plans (especially those receiving the largest overpayments) is growing rapidly. Over the next 10 years, overpayments to insurance companies will cost an additional $160 billion. Such overpayments reduce the financial solvency of Medicare's hospital insurance trust fund by two years.
Some seniors are happy with their Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and receive varying benefits such as a free eye exam each year. However, these benefits are inconsistently offered and the subsidies MA plans receive to support their offering additional benefits deeply eats into the sustainability of Medicare in the long run. This is a major problem.
- Informing the Debate about Curbing Medicare Advantage Overpayments - Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
- AFSCME Testimony to the U.S. House on Medicare Advantage and the Federal Budget
- National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare paper
The Wisconsin Alliance and state allies asserted the following in several state papers around the holidays:
Keeping in mind the best interests of Wisconsin's 50-plus population, we the undersigned from AARP Wisconsin, the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups and the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans want to be clear that we are committed to protecting and strengthening Medicare - not cutting the program, which has been alleged by health reform opponents as this legislation moves through Congress.
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