Health care expert Trudy Lieberman says the main thing the House health care bill does is require people to get health care insurance. She says if one is not already insured by an employer or a government program, such as Medicare or Medicaid, one will be required to purchase insurance exchange. (0:35)
By Meagan Wiseley – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
AARP CEO A. Barry Rand announced Thursday that the lobbying organization for seniors’ interests is endorsing the House health care bill.
“On behalf of our nearly 40 million members, AARP is pleased to endorse the Affordable Health Care for America Act,” Rand said during a press conference.
Rand said the House bill improves and strengthens Medicare benefits and protects the program for future generations. He also said the bill restricts insurance companies from discriminating against older Americans.
“The Affordable Health Care for America Act…meets those goals with improved benefits for people in Medicare and needed health insurance market reforms to help ensure every American can purchase affordable health coverage,” said Rand.
The House is preparing to vote on this bill as soon as Saturday.
Rand added, “As members of the House gear up for this historic vote, they will hear from older Americans.”
AARP is the largest membership organization for people over 50.
Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) says the people who need to be concerned with the proposed health care reform bills are senior citizens since costs will be covered by making cuts to Medicare. Additionally, Latta says if Medicare funds can be paid for by waste fraud and abuse, the people currently in charge of waste fraud and abuse should lose their jobs.
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Travis Martinez – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and fellow Republicans argued on Wednesday against cuts in benefits for Medicare and Medicare Advantage recipients.
“Poll after Poll shows that America’s seniors are the group that has the greatest concerns about government takeover of health care, that’s because proposals cut Medicare benefits that seniors rely on,” said Boehner.
The Republican Leader used Wednesday’s press conference to promote the his party’s healthcare website, healthcare.gop.gov, where users can view “better solutions” to fix the nation’s health care system.
House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who also attended the press conference, invoked words from President Barack Obama’s campaign.
Responding to then-Senator Obama’s pledge that Americans who like their health care plan would not be forced to give it up, Pence said, “ I guess he wasn’t talking about American senior citizens,” adding that “under recent legislation, $162 billion will be cut from the popular Medicare Advantage.”
By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service
Over a dozen House Democrats from the Quality Care Coalition announced Thursday that they will be pursuing a solution to what has been described as regional inequality in Medicare compensation.
“McAllen, Texas … has a reimbursement rate of about $15,000 per patient per year,” said Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wa.). “In Tacoma, Washington it’s $7,100 per Medicare patient.
“This is wrong. It was done on a political basis and it was sustained for forty years,” Dicks added.
To combat this, Congress will commission a 16 month study with the Institute of Medicine to find a way to reimburse medical professionals based on the outcome of care rather than the volume of the treatment.
The provision mandating the study will be included in the final House health care reform bill. According to the QCC, the inclusions will be budget neutral.
By Ravi Bhatia, Talk Radio News Service
Kent Masterson Brown, lead attorney for plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the Department of Health and Human Services, warned Tuesday that seniors who attempt to leave their Medicare policies may face financial repercussions.
“[The three internal rules of the Social Security Administration] allow you to get out of Medicare Part A, but if you do, you lose all your social security retirement benefits, and you are required to repay every benefit that had been paid to you,” Brown said. “They won’t let you out until all the money has been collected.”
The lawsuit, Hall V. Sebelius, seeks to prohibit the Social Security Administration and the Dept. of Health and Human Services from requiring seniors to take part Medicare A through policies which Masterson contends were improperly implemented.
“The frightening thing about a case like this is an agency that’s just doing anything it wants,” Brown said. “Keeping agencies in tow, making them do only what Congress has dictated is fundamentally essential to the republic.”
Government lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case in May on the grounds that the plaintiffs have not been harmed by the policies and hence have no standing to sue. In addition, the lawyers argued that the plaintiffs have not exhausted all of the administrative remedies available to them before suing.
John DuBois, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
A number of House Republicans argued Wednesday that cutting medicare funding will put both the program and its recipients in danger.
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said that the belief that the U.S. will be able to cut medicare funding without negative consequences is “the biggest fallacy in this new plan as we move forward.”
Blunt said he was also concerned that the cuts would take money away from senior citizens who already have pre-paid into Medicare, a move Blunt says “will damage the system.”
“It’s inappropriate to reduce the foundation of medicare in order to pay for a new government health plan,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) added.
Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo says that the healthcare argument is terribly misunderstood. There is an inability to explain to people what you want to get done. The positive side has not succeeded in making it clear. Cuomo talks about a system where Medicare is being stretch and eventually cover all Americans. (1:28)
President Barack Obama attempted to quell rumors arising from the health care reform debate during a town hall meeting held in Portsmouth, New Hampshire Tuesday, saying that although he respected those who had disagreements, there has been a great deal of misinformation.
“Where we do disagree, let’s disagree on things that are real,” Obama said. “Not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that’s actually been proposed.”
The President defended the public option, denying that it signaled a government takeover of the health care system.
“I do think that having a public option…would keep the insurance companies honest,” Obama said, explaining that the public option would provide a reasonable model that insurance companies could mimic in terms of cost.
Obama stressed that while he wanted action that would provide coverage for as many Americans as possible, he has not been pursuing a single-payer plan.
“For us to transition to a system like that I believe would be too disruptive,” the President said. “A lot of people who currently have employer based health care would find themselves dropped and they would have to go into an entirely new system that has not been set up yet. I would be concerned about the potential disruptiveness of that kind of transition.”
Obama also dismissed rumors of “death panels”, a term picked up by Conservatives such as former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin to describe government officials who would decide whom to provide coverage for under a public system. The President said that the rumors emerged from an amendment in one of the drafts of health reform legislation that sought to expand medicare coverage to include consultation for end of life treatment, such as hospice care or drafting living wills.
The President also attempted to mitigate fears over the government rationing health care, stating that rationing is currently occurring through private insurance companies declining coverage.
“You will have not only the care you need, but the care that right now is being denied to you only if we pass health care reform,” Obama said.
Obama poked fun at some of the more colorful rumors, pointing to the conclusion from various news outlets that the White House’s request for the public to send them rumors they have received via email was secretly the means through which to collect an enemies list.
“Come on, guys,” the President mused.
In recent weeks, the debate over health care reform has reached a fever pitch, with raucous crowds haranguing public appearances by members of Congress. However, the President stated that reform would nevertheless be passed by 2009.
Vice President Joe Biden announces Wednesday that hospitals from all over the country will hep raise roughly $155 billion for health care reform. The funds will be created through spending cuts on Medicare and Medicaid. (:33)
