Will the new health care law reduce the coverage I get from Medicare?
Nothing in the new health care law cuts Medicare’s guaranteed benefits or increases your out-of-pocket costs for Medicare services. In fact, the new law will reduce costly, preventable hospital readmissions, saving patients and Medicare money.
I like Medicare, why would Congress mess with it?
The new health care law actually improves and protects Medicare. It protects Medicare by reducing costs — and adding about 12 years of solvency to the Medicare trust fund — without cutting Medicare’s guaranteed benefits. The new law enhances Medicare by offering a package of improved services such as coordinating care for chronic conditions, reducing medical error, and lowering costs for preventive care.
The new law also lowers prescription drug costs by closing the coverage gap (or doughnut hole) and improving quality and coordination for the treatment and management of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
How can they save money in Medicare but not cut my benefits?
By finding savings in three areas:
While the dollar value of these savings—around $450 billion over ten years—is a lot of money, it represents just a small percentage of Medicare spending. In fact, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the changes in Medicare will trim the growth in Medicare spending by about 1 percent per year. Medicare spending will continue to grow at an average rate of about 6 percent per year, according to CBO projections.
How will health reform affect my prescription drug costs?
Health care reform will lower prescription drug costs for people in the Medicare Part D coverage gap or “doughnut hole” by gradually closing the doughnut hole. This coverage gaps happens for all people with Medicare prescription drug coverage whose annual drug spending exceeds $2,830. The new law begins to close the coverage gap by giving a $250 rebate to Part D enrollees who hit the donut hole in 2010, and gradually phases down enrollees’ coinsurance in the coverage gap until it reaches 25 percent by 2020.
I have Medicare. Will I still be able to choose my own doctor?
Nothing in the new health care law limits your choice of doctors.
If more people get health insurance, won’t it be harder to find a doctor if I need one?
Regardless of what happens with the new health care law, we know that there is a need for more primary care providers. That’s why the new law includes substantial investments in training for doctors and nurses. In addition, it provides primary care providers with bonus Medicare payments to encourage more family doctors to provide services to Medicare patients, which will help see to it that people with chronic conditions get the care they need.
How will the new health care law help me meet my long term care health needs?
The new law creates a program to provide assistance to help people stay at home as they get older. Some of the changes will make long-term care more affordable and help relieve family caregivers’ burdens by creating a new voluntary long-term care services insurance program. This program will provide funds to help seniors and people with disabilities obtain service and supports that will enable them to remain in their homes and communities.
In addition, there will be more choices for seniors who need long-term care to get those services at home and in their communities rather than nursing homes, and there are other measures to make long-term care more affordable. For those who need nursing home care, health care reform has provisions to improve quality and safety.
I’m in a Medicare Advantage Plan. Won’t the new health law reduce my benefits?
The new law reduces the excessive subsidies paid to private insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. These companies now receive an average of 14 percent more per person than traditional Medicare. These MA-plan overpayments have led to record profits for insurers, while draining the Medicare trust fund. There is nothing in the law, however, that diminishes the guaranteed benefits that all Medicare participants receive. Many MA plans change the benefits they offer and the cost-sharing on a yearly basis, even without changes in payments. If a private insurer reduces any of its additional MA plan benefits, that is purely a business decision the insurance company has made on its own.
I’ve heard that the new health care law won’t cut costs. Why doesn’t Congress focus on the rising cost of health care?
Actually, the new health care law incorporates virtually every major cost cutting idea proposed for health care over the last 10 years, according to a Wall Street Journal article. These provisions include bi-partisan proposals such as reducing excessive prices in Medicare, malpractice reform, combating Medicare fraud and abuse, promoting prevention and coordination of chronic care treatment, and investing in information technology.
With deficits so high, can we really afford this health care law right now?
Actually, health care reform is affordable and exactly what is needed to reduce the deficit going forward. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the most recent health reform bill would reduce the federal budget deficit by over $130 billion over 10 years. That is another reason why America can no longer afford to wait on health care reform.
Will there be “death panels” that want to deny care to older people to save money?
The talk about “death panels” was just another scare tactic created by opponents of the new law. Nothing in the new law gives the government or your insurance company power to make life-and-death decisions for you.
