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Affordable Care Act already saving millions for Seniors in donut hole
Pardon the tangent, but my late father always described his prostate (when he was explaining his frequent trips to the bathroom) as a donut, so every time I read about Medicare’s donut hole I think of my dad’s prostate.
The Affordable Care Act, while still being implemented in stages, has already saved $166 million for seniors in the donut hole (something I still don’t fully understand, but anyone in the donut hole knows it!).
From HealthCare.gov:
The Affordable Care Act is cutting the cost of prescription drugs for millions of people with Medicare. Starting this year, people with Medicare receive a 50% percent discount on covered brand name drugs bought when they are in the donut hole.
To receive the discount, no special action is required. Seniors simply purchase drugs at the pharmacy and receive the discount automatically.
So far, 271,000 people have used the discounts to save an average of $613 for a total of $166 million. These savings will continue to grow. Most people who reach the donut hole do so later in the year, so we know more and more seniors will be helped as the year progresses. But seniors with high costs are already receiving critical relief from prescription drug costs.
Most of these discounts are helping seniors with serious medical conditions – nearly 20% of the benefits provided to date – more than $32 million – are for cancer drugs and another nearly 10% – about $16 million – are for drugs provide to multiple sclerosis patients.
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Illinois civil union law not just for same-sex couples
I was thrilled with the new Illinois civil union law. Not only am I among the minority who has no problem with getting a civil union instead of a marriage (neither is available in New York!), but I’d like to see civil unions available for any two people, as they now are in Illinois. It can benefit seniors, for instance, of same or opposite sex, who choose not to marry for whatever reason. Perhaps it’s an aging widow and widower who don’t want to re-marry but do want the legal protections. Or someone and their best friend who they plan to share their life with. There are any number of scenarios now available with the Illinois law I’d like to see expanded across the country. While I am a marriage equality advocate and would like nothing more than to see it pass in my home state so Frank and I could get married here, I would like just as much if not more to see civil unions for all – which, believe it or not, is even less likely than same-sex marriage to happen any time soon.
From TribLocal.com:
How often had I said “Not in my lifetime”, and yet, on June 1, 2011, Illinois will start recognizing LGBT families and other families who have previously been denied recognition via a civil union document issued by county clerks. Most who will get civil unions will be same-sex families, but there will be seniors and disabled families who couldn’t get married because of social security and pension “rules”.
The civil union law is a compromise that sets up a two-tiered system in Illinois law. Vermont was the first state to establish civil unions back in 2000. Since that lead, many states have passed civil union laws, domestic partnership laws, “everything but marriage” laws, and equal marriage laws. Other state legislatures continue to debate civil union and equal marriage laws. It’s an evolutionary process that will be resolved when the federal government decides equality is a good thing . For now, two tiers are better than total exclusion.
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Paul Ryan says vouchers instead of Medicare would 'empower' seniors
With language that would make George Orwell blush, Paul Ryan recently attempted to make his case for the destruction of Medicare by saying that a voucher system would “give seniors the power to deny business to inefficient providers.” What he doesn’t address is the ability of insurance companies – efficient or not – to tell the oh-so-powerful seniors to drop dead, which many of them will.
Surely we’ve gotten past the days when a political party could lie so brazenly to voters and expect us to believe them. Good luck getting health insurance as we wave our little vouchers demanding health insurance no one is obligated to sell us.
From Bloomberg news: U.S. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said his proposal to overhaul Medicare would fight rising health-care costs by “empowering” senior citizens to “deny business to inefficient providers.” In a speech today before the Economic Club of Chicago, the Wisconsin Republican said replacing the traditional Medicare program with government subsidies to help seniors buy private health insurance would force providers to work to meet their needs and drive down costs. Ryan, responding to criticism of his plan, sought to shift the debate to Democrats’ own plan to cut Medicare costs through a board of experts charged with finding savings in the $500 billion program. “The disagreement isn’t really about the problem — it’s about the solution to controlling costs in Medicare,” Ryan said in prepared remarks. “Our plan is to give seniors the power to deny business to inefficient providers. Their plan is to give government the power to deny care to seniors.” ]]> -
GOP abandons Medicare plan under growing pressure
From the New York Times: WASHINGTON — House Republicans signaled Thursday that they were backing away from the centerpiece of their budget plan — a proposal to overhaul Medicare — in a decision that underscored both the difficulties and political perils of addressing the nation’s long-term fiscal problems. While top Republicans insisted that they remained committed to the Medicare initiative, which had become the target of intense attacks by Democrats and liberal groups in recent weeks, the lawmaker who would have to turn the proposal into legislation said he had no plans to do so any time soon. The lawmaker, Representative Dave Camp, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said that while he still supports the party’s Medicare approach, opposition from Democrats made it pointless to proceed.
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Medicare bonuses to offset cuts under new healthcare law
From the Los Angeles Times: Washington—
— Millions of seniors in popular private insurance plans offered through Medicare will get a reprieve from some of the most controversial cuts in President Obama’s healthcare law. In a policy shift critics see as political, the Health and Human Services Department will award quality bonuses to hundreds of Medicare Advantage plans. The $6.7-billion infusion could head off service cuts that would have been a headache for Obama and Democrats in next year’s elections for the White House and Congress. More than half the roughly 11 million Medicare Advantage enrollees are in plans that are rated average. The insurance industry says the bonuses will turn what would have averaged out as a net loss for the plans in 2012 into a slight increase. In a recent letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, two prominent GOP lawmakers questioned what they termed the administration’s “newfound support” for Medicare Advantage.
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Is the GOP setting its sights on AARP?
In what Democrats are calling a politically motivated move, three Republican congressmen are seeking an investigation to determine if AARP should be stripped of its tax-exempt status.
From Foxbusiness.com:
Three Republican congressmen are asking the IRS to investigate whether AARP, the powerful senior lobby and health care reform supporter, should be stripped of its tax-exempt status.
At issue is whether there’s a conflict of interest between the group’s mission to advocate for seniors and the money it makes from endorsing insurance products.
As a result of provisions in the health care reform law, AARP stands to make an additional $1 billion through royalties on insurance products branded with the organization’s name over the next 10 years, according to a 29-page report released March 30 by Republican members of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. [SNIP] Democrats said the report was politically motivated, noting that Republicans lauded AARP’s endorsement of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which created a private Medicare drug benefit. “But now, since AARP worked to help enact health reform and will surely oppose Republican plans to convert Medicare to a voucher, privatize Social Security and block grant Medicaid, Republicans want to bring them down,” said Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Pete Stark of California in a statement.]]>