THE GOP´s SCARE-MONGERING ON MEDICARE REFORM

FOX News & the GOP are counting on ignorant Americans to continue their misinformation program on the Democrat´s health care reform plans.

... In 1961, Ronald Reagan recorded a GOP LP that was sent to tens-of-thousands warning agains the dangers of "Medicare".

It has always distressed me on how so many Americans can be so easily misled by misinformation because they refuse to take the time to find out if the information they are receiving is correct.

In a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, it was found that only 15% of those polled believed that the current Medicare changes under consideration would make the program better, while 30% thought it would make Medicare worse. Now, could any of those that thought it would be worse actually know "why" it would be worse? No, not one of them. They had just "heard" (probably on FOX News) that it would be worse.

And how about those that thought it would be better? Yes, the majority of those individuals had taken the time to understand that the Obama Administration is expecting to save hundreds of billions of dollars by slowing the growth of spending in the current inefficient Medicare system. Most of this 15% also knew that there was also no intention to touch the current Medicare benefits while the Congress was determining where and how the current waste and fraud were occurring.

Of course, it´s these 30%´ers that the Republicans and FOX News are using to posture to as the so called, "vigilant protectors" of the current Medicare systems and against any reforms that might improve the system. Republicans today have scared many older Americans into believing that their medical treatments will suffer under the pending reform bills.

And don´t forget, this is the same party that voted against the original Medicare bill and that in the recent past has tried to pare back Medicare as they repeatedly denounced the kind of "single-payer" system that is at the heart of Medicare and its current popularity.

The reality is that, far from harming elderly Americans, the various reform bills now pending in Congress should actually make Medicare better for most beneficiaries. The pending reforms would enhance the prescription drug coverage, would reduce the annual premiums, would pay for drugs and medical care, eliminate co-payments for preventive services and would help keep the Medicare system solvent, among many other benefits.

The main exception, is for the private plan that should never have been approved that is called Medicare Advantage.

First, it must be stressed that this is a "private health care plan" whose name was chosen to be just a "play on words" name from the real single-payer Medicare plan. There are 10 million people enrolled in this private plan that participates in Medicare with some additional benefits that the patients pay for separately. The Bush Administration, and the then Republican Congress, agreed to pay large subsidies to the private insurance companies that offer these plans. These payments help the private companies to compete against the traditional Medicare plan with a private "fee-for-service" program.

Most of the Medicare Advantage private suppliers are required to use part of their subsidies to reduce the charges to their beneficiaries or to add extra benefits, such as vision and dental benefits, or even gym memberships.

It must however be noted, as compared to regular Medicare,as a private insurance, Medicare Advantage can be canceled by the provider or the beneficiary can be dropped at any time and for any reason.

In addition, over the years the Medicare Advantage subsidies to the private companies has continued to increase and today Medicare pays the private plans, on average, 14% more than the exact same services would cost in the traditional Medicare program.

The bill being considered today by the Senate Finance Committee is projected to cut the subsidies to the Medicare Advantage companies by more than $100 billion over 10 years. Although Republican rhetoric has triggered fears that Medicare Advantage enrollees might lose their coverage entirely if private plans drop out of the system, the real effect of the bill would likely be modest on average. The value of an enrollee´s additional benefits would shrink by more than half from current levels but would not disappear; they would still be worth about $500 a year by 2019.

Douglas Elmendorf, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, told the Congressional committee that under the bill as proposed, he expected that almost all Medicare Advantage plans would continue to operate. Almost all of their current enrollees would stay enrolled. Total enrollment in Medicare Advantage would creep up by 200,000 over the next decade which is, about 2.7 million fewer new enrollees than expected under current trends, a real chance for future savings.

But what the Republicans aren´t saying, and what the Democrats aren´t saying clearly enough, is that coverage for a vast majority of those in traditional Medicare should actually improve their coverage under the current health care reform.

The House legislation, (the only bills in near-final form), would reduce and ultimately eliminate the "gap" called the "doughnut hole". This is Bush´s Medicare Plan D drug coverage that currently forces more than 3 million beneficiaries to pay for drugs entirely out of their own pockets once they hit specified spending levels. (And these are the high drug prices that the Bush Administration would not allow to be negotiated with the drug companies.) They would also benefit many other beneficiaries who pay high premiums for coverage in the "gap" that they never end up using anyway.

The bills also expand eligibility for programs that assist low-income beneficiaries and it provides incentives for doctors and hospitals to coordinate care, improve quality, and lower costs. All of these should benefit many if not most Medicare beneficiaries. And the delivery system reforms should benefit the private plans as well.

As expected, Republican opponents have been warning that the reforms will make hospitals and other health care less willing or able to serve Medicare patients. They of course, give no examples of why this would occur…..? But if it were true, it would become an issue that Congress would have to address in the future.

Most Americans have long championed Medicare. And all Americans, especially the elderly, should closely examine the proposed health care reform bills.

But the Republicans have done an outstanding job at obscuring and twisting the facts and spreading unwarranted fear. It is time to call them to account. President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have to make the case forcefully that health care reform will overwhelmingly "benefit all Americans", including the millions of older Americans who already participate in Medicare.

Back when Medicare was first passed by Congress, there were a number of Republican Senators and Congresspersons that voted against Medicare, just as a number of them are threatening to do against the current health care reform bills. If you asked those that voted against Medicare back then if they did the right thing, most would probably say "no" today. I´m wondering just how many Republicans are going to want to be on the wrong side of the health care reform vote when over 75% of all Americans today want major reform, and most of those have stated that they prefer a "single-payer" plan...?

Copyright G.Ater 2009

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