Thread: Health care law's Medicare trims altering seniors' views

Health care law's Medicare trims altering seniors' views

By Marilyn Serafini, Kaiser Health News

DOWLING PARK, Fla. — Until this spring, life-long Democrat Carolyn Land never had a second thought about voting for Rep. Allen Boyd, a Democrat who has represented her area since 1997.

But the day after Boyd cast his March 21 vote for the new health care law, Land, 65, got out of her La-Z-Boy, switched her registration to Republican and began stumping for Boyd's Republican challenger, Steve Southerland. The law "cut $500 billion from Medicare," she says. "Right now, I can see a doctor when I need to, but I'm afraid I won't if that happens. I foresee a long wait."

As emotions run high over the law, anger and fear about its impact on Medicare could be a deciding factor in some particularly close congressional races, especially in areas where there are large numbers of seniors, say political analysts such as Robert Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health. "It could make a difference in any one of these races," he says.

Republican candidates across the country are pummeling Democrats with the claim that the new law would gut the program by cutting $500 billion. Democrats accuse Republicans of distorting the truth: They say the law will only slow spending, at the expense of hospitals and insurers — not seniors.

In reality, while the new law will save the government $533 billion over the first 10 years, Medicare spending will continue to grow annually, at about 5.5% instead of 6.8%, based on Congressional Budget Office spending data.

A March CNN/Opinion Research poll asked which party would do a better job of dealing with Medicare, and 48% of voters over 65 sided with Republicans, compared with 44% who chose Democrats. The poll had a margin of error of +/–5 percentage points. Earlier in the decade, more seniors chose Democrats.

"Seniors are a tough audience for Democrats," says John Rother of the seniors group AARP, which supported the health law. "This has given Republicans a way to talk about positioning themselves as defenders of Medicare, which is quite unusual."

The seniors' vote will be key in 46 Democratic-held House seats The Cook Political Report classifies as "tossups" — including the race between Boyd and Southerland in Florida's Panhandle.

Notably, 28 of Cook's tossup races — more than half — are in districts that are grayer than average. Voting by the under-65 crowd tends to drop off in mid-term congressional elections, but senior turnout holds steady, making them a coveted group.

Across the USA, Republicans are waging a fight for seniors:

• Ads from the National Republican Congressional Committee accuse freshman Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Mich., of "trying to hide his vote to cut $500 billion from Medicare." Schauer, in a tossup race with Republican Tim Walberg, says doing nothing would risk Medicare's future.

• In Illinois, GOP House candidate Adam Kinzinger is dueling Democratic Rep. Debbie Halvorson over senior issues in a close race southwest of Chicago. Halvorson claims Kinzinger wants to privatize Social Security and raise the retirement age. He says the attacks "attempt to scare senior citizens and shift their attention from the fact that Debbie Halvorson voted earlier this year to cut $500 billion from Medicare."

• Joe Miller, the Republican Senate nominee in Alaska, told AARP Alaska that fewer doctors will want to practice: "We're already paying so little that many doctors don't want to continue to provide services."

• The conservative seniors group 60 Plus says it has spent $7 million on TV ads in Boyd's district and in 14 other districts in Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin. In one Florida ad, seniors make the case that Boyd "betrayed" older Americans. "This November, we'll remember," says one.

Like many other Democrats, Boyd is punching back, saying Southerland is "spreading false information."

Boyd was among the last-minute holdouts on the law who switched his vote to "yes" just before it passed the House 219 to 212, with 34 of Boyd's Democratic colleagues voting against it.

Democrats who supported the law must let people know how it helps Medicare beneficiaries, said Ron Pollack of the consumer group Families USA, which pushed for the law.

Peter and Cindy Anderson of Orlando aren't convinced. The two Republicans are so concerned about future Medicare benefits that they are loading up on surgeries now, before they become eligible, Peter said. Cindy, 61, had planned to wait until Medicare kicked in before undergoing a knee replacement, but she's moved the surgery to this year and is urging her doctor to do her other knee quickly.

"By the time we get there, what's going to be left?" her husband says. "What procedures will we be told are no longer justifiable for our age because of the financial condition of Medicare?"

Kaiser Health News (kaiserhealthnews.org) is an editorially independent news service and a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-partisan health care policy organization. Neither KFF nor KHN is affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health ... 6_ST_N.htm

Both my doctors are no longer accepting Medicare patients. They will continue to see current Medicare patients, but not new ones UNLESS you are now a patient AND you have supplemental (gap) insurance.

Look as simplistic as it sounds it's all about redistribution of wealth via health care cut back on health care for seniors in doing so some will die while giving more money for illegals and those on welfare who simply won't work..

This administration wants seniors and certain groups to go to the back of the bus, health care is an excellent resource to do this.

My mom is 88 and she just had her healthcare plan cancelled. She is now looking for a new policy. I live in So Ca and I can't find a dr here that will accept medicade, so, so much for putting everyone on medicade. I am trying to find a policy for me because I really don't want to go on medicare next year when I turn 65.

Originally Posted by agrneydgrl

My mom is 88 and she just had her healthcare plan cancelled. She is now looking for a new policy. I live in So Ca and I can't find a dr here that will accept medicade, so, so much for putting everyone on medicade. I am trying to find a policy for me because I really don't want to go on medicare next year when I turn 65.

I have been on Medicare for almost a year now and have no complaints about service or coverage so far. I paid for it all of my working life and I'm sure going to use it. My Mother is 90 and she has used it since she was 65 and has no problems with it, except when someone used her Medicare number for an operation. She called them and told them she didn't know who they operated on but it wasn't her. They deleted it from her records.

Originally Posted by ReggieMay

Both my doctors are no longer accepting Medicare patients. They will continue to see current Medicare patients, but not new ones UNLESS you are now a patient AND you have supplemental (gap) insurance.

That's what is happening in my area also. I'm angry about the upcoming price hike to my Medicare Supplemental, but on the other hand, the largest HMO in my area has notified seniors they will no longer cover them. Nice, huh, so they have to find a new Medigap policy, believe me there aren't that many that offer coverage in the Bay Area of California.

Johndoe2 wrote:


I have been on Medicare for almost a year now and have no complaints about service or coverage so far. I paid for it all of my working life and I'm sure going to use it. My Mother is 90 and she has used it since she was 65 and has no problems with it, except when someone used her Medicare number for an operation. She called them and told them she didn't know who they operated on but it wasn't her. They deleted it from her records.
_________________
Let me know if that changes. My mom had Evercare for over 3 years

Originally Posted by alleycat

That's what is happening in my area also. I'm angry about the upcoming price hike to my Medicare Supplemental, but on the other hand, the largest HMO in my area has notified seniors they will no longer cover them. Nice, huh, so they have to find a new Medigap policy, believe me there aren't that many that offer coverage in the Bay Area of California.

Check out www.AARPMedicareComplete.com/more