Passage of Obamacare will have negative consequences for practically all Americans. However, it is the nation’s senior citizens who will get the short end of the stick after enactment of the President’s health care agenda. In a recent paper, Heritage health policy expert Robert Moffit, Ph.D., lays out the specific provisions of Obamacare that will hurt seniors:
- Less Choice. Obamacare will reduce payments to Medicare Advantage, likely decreasing benefits and causing approximately half of current participants to drop out. These seniors will have little choice but to go back to traditional Medicare, and buy a supplemental policy to cover Medicare’s big gaps in coverage.
- Reduced Access to Care. Writes Moffit, “With the retirement of 77 million baby boomers beginning in 2011, the Medicare program will have to absorb an unprecedented demand for medical services. For the next generation of senior citizens, finding a doctor will be more difficult and waiting times for doctor appointments are likely to be longer. The American Association of Medical Colleges projects a shortage of 124,000 doctors by 2025.” Obamacare does nothing to reverse this worrisome trend, instead making it worse.
- Medicare Payment Cuts. Moffit explains that “creating a real problem for seniors, the CMS Actuary estimates that roughly 15 percent of Medicare Part A providers—the part of the Medicare program that pays hospital costs—would become unprofitable within 10 years” due to reductions in hospital payment updates under the new law.
- Higher Taxes. “The higher taxes on drugs (effective in 2011) and medical devices (effective in 2013) will affect seniors especially, as they are more heavily dependent on those very products.” Moreover, federal premium taxes will apply to Medicare Advantage, as well as federal retirees’ health plans.
Moffit’s research outlines how Obamacare fails to address the pressing need for systemic reform of the Medicare program while also hindering the entitlement’s ability to adequately meet the needs of those it serves. To read more, click here.
I could belong to the DAR if I wanted. I have my dad's Marine uniforn from WW1,
I havd three brothers Marines 2 Army,Husband was a Navy Corp man WW11 and Korea,both of my sons are retired Navy,both met their wives who were in the Navy,One son still works for the Airforce in Texas, and a grandson who has been in Iraq (Marine) twice now. I don't intend it to be for naught.
I have been asking God to get our Country back to its roots and values for quite awhile now and see it begining to turn. Thanks
My wife & I are senoirs on the Medicare program. We also have a backup insurance(Blur Cross) from a retirement plan.Another concern is: will we be able to keep this insurance or required to go with this Gov. Health farse?
For many years the Medicare system has reimbursed physicians at a rate that is less than the reimbursement of the private insurance companies. In many cases the Medicare reimbursement is less than it costs the physician to care for the Medicare patient. That is why physicians have limited the number of Medicare patients they will care for annually. The reimbursement system that Medicare uses is called the Sustainable Growth rate system or (SGR). It is a complicated formula which decreases the reimbursement for all physician services for each year there is an increased demand. So, the greater the number of Medicare recipients receiving care or the more sophisticated the care (those needing a specialist such as a Cardiologist,Neurologist,Gastroenterologist), the less physicians receive for each patient they treat.
Each of the past several years, realizing the SGR reimbursement levels are lower than the cost of delivering care, Congress has annually made a temporary “fix” of SGR and increased physician’s reimbursement an average of 1%. This well below the increasing costs involved with the delivery of quality care. Moreover, these yearly “fixes” only delay the cuts required by the SGR cuts which grow each year. This year unless Congress delays it, physicians will receive a 21% decrease in reimbursement which is unsustainable for the physicians. Hence, many physicians already have stopped taking any new Medicare patients. Sooner or later this will impact most of us as only the less “competent “physicians will accept Medicare patients.
What is Heritage doing to correct this terrible situation?
Pingback: » Financial News Update – 05/24/10 NoisyRoom.net: The Progressive Hunter
Who are the real beneficiaries of this national or international health care danger?
The reason Obamacare doesn't work is that it's a mountain of unfunded mandates. The states have to meet requirements on their own, and especially in a time of recession just can't do it. The result is that the seniors and taxpayers lose.
I met a guy at a tea party rally who said just this. Best name ever, too – Remzey Samarrai (www.remzey2010.com). Hopefully we'll get politicians in 2010 who know what they're doing and know how to reduce this burden, both at the state and national levels.
Once the Civil Circus retirees finally get it that their health benefits are going to be taxed and the rest of the old folks discover their retirement investments are going to be taxed you'll see some real outrage.
What seniors need to know about Obamacare – Perhaps a more in depth look will reveal and different opinion. The truth, in fact, is that the insurance companies have been paid extraordinary amounts of $$$ per enrollee for the Advantage Plans, and there is not a freedom of choice with those. The high fees (and you can check out well Humana and United HC are doing) are what is bankrupting Medicare. I believe you are listening to the insurance lobby. The truth is that traditional Medicare with a supplement gives complete freedom of choice. If a person can not afford a supplement, it has been my experience that a lot of doctors write off the difference or accept a stipen in lieu of the 20%.
PLUS, the Advantage plans are so complicated and they change every year how and what they cover…it is not fair to senior citizens to have to go through this.
What has really cost citizens a lot is the funding to the Prescription Drug Plan. This is another entitlement and seniors now expect even more coverage. This country has gone crazy. We can't print (or borrow) (or tax) money fast enough!
As a new recipitent and participant in the medicare program, I am quite concerned about the ability of our country's medical system to handle the increased number of seniors who will be coming into the system. My employer has recommended since I'm eligible for medicare, to change over to the medicare system and they willl pick up the cost of a medicare advantage program. Well, there goes my regular health insurance. I can't blame my small employer. However, I can't keep what I had. OBAMA LIED.
In addition, I think that AARP is a farce. That organization has only one thing in mind: to make money. They accepted $300 million from the federal government a while back. That is call pay for AARP's support. So, AARP was disingenuous when it stated that Obama Care was going to be a great piece of Apple Pie for us seniors. That statement represented, in my opinion, the selffish interests of AARP..
Rationing is coming. If you believe AARP, then I feel sorry for you. My membership will not be renewed.
Well, the government said that it wanted to save money. They have made the discovery that if you don't pay for healthcare you can save money. Which brings me to the idea expressed by Governor Richard Lamm of Arizona(?) that old people have a duty to die. Maybe he and his fellow Democrats would settle for a stipulation or agreement that we fully intend to die when the time comes. In the meanwhile I''ll be voting Republican. Whoever thought that it would be the Republican party that would save old people. I always thought that G.O.P. stood for Get Old People.
Bernila,
We were brainwashed into believing the GOP was the DEVIL…
NOT TRUE!
Stevila
Good 'ol Owebama care
went to two doc's this week and the price to see one went up from $30 to $40 visit.Than at my other doc's visit it was stated on door going in that visit prices are going upThank you very much Owebozo,yeah just wait till all of Bush's taxes run out and Bozo's kicks in..See ya in 2012 .
Pingback: A Mayberry Miracle for healthcare? | North Carolina Tea Party
The level of fear, ignorance and hate in so many of the comments above is distressing.
It is unlikely that health care reform will change the Medicare program substantially for better or worse except for the Senior Advantage reduction. The much bigger problem is the increase in US health care spending from 9% of GDP in 1985 to 18% in 2011. By comparison the 2011 spending on the military, (Department of Defense) is about 5%. We spend 7% on education. The problem with health care reform is that it expands the insured population ( a good thing) while not addressing the cost problem directly. Maybe we need nationalized health care British style. They spend 9% of their GDP on health care and their population has better overall health than ours.
I think all republicans would love a 9% accros the board increase in disposable income that we could achieve by reducing our health care "systems" percentage of GDP from 18% to 9%.
Pingback: VIDEO: Seniors & Providers Dread Obamacare Changes | Fix Health Care Policy