Yesterday, the Alliance for Retired Americans co-sponsored a call for seniors with a variety of organizations including the DNC Seniors Coordinating Council. The call was part of the Obama administration’s national campaign to clarify to seniors what specific benefits they can gain from the new health law.
Tim Kaine, DNC Chairman and Steve Regenstreif, head of the DNC Seniors Coordinating Council, hosted the call. In his opening remarks, Chairman Kaine emphasized that President Obama is very committed to ensuring that seniors fully understand the health law. Kaine cited the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services brochure detailing what the health reform will mean for seniors as one of the many efforts that the Obama administration has done in order to fulfill their pledge to educate seniors.
Polls in the past couple of weeks have indicated that Americans want to give the new health care law a chance, suggesting that the administration’s health reform clarification campaign is working.
Despite the aggressive effort to explain the influx of benefits that seniors will receive from the health law, Regenstreif reminded listeners that the battle to keep the reforms in place wages on do to the Republican’s repeal strategy. Both of the hosts said the best way to combat the Republican repeal effort is to inform people about the law, especially groups like seniors who stand to receive significant tangible benefits such as the $250 rebate checks. Chairman Kaine expressed his gratitude to seniors for their unprecedented levels of activism in states like Florida, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, where Republican candidates have expressed their beliefs in privatizing Social Security.
The majority of the call time was devoted to listeners with questions about the new health law. A former Connecticut public employee asked about a rumor floating around that the new health law will force public service retirees off their state and city funded pension plans. Immediately after the question was asked, Kaine assured all the listeners that there is nothing in the enacted health law that will either alter and/or jeopardize state or city retirement plans. [It is important to note that many state and local governments are in the midst of a budget crisis and therefore may be cutting back on pension packages, but that is irrelevant to the health reform law, as it does not pertain to such problems.]
Once of the final questions came from a woman wondering what effect the cuts in subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans will have on seniors. The question allowed Chairman Kaine to address the reoccurring theme of these informational forums; the health reform law will improve the overall quality of care that seniors and all Americans receive. Under the current system, insurance companies that offer Medicare advantage plans receive outrageously high subsidies that go to profits and executive salaries, not to medical care.
Kaine noted that the savings generated from scaling back the subsidies will fund initiatives to close the donut hole, make preventative care cheaper, and prevent fraud/abuse. Upon receiving the answer to their respective questions, a tone of reassurance echoed amongst the participants, hinting that the national consensus is forming in favor of the health law.
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