You mean they won’t get free Viagra?
This guy is screwing himself and those who are agreeing with his plans, with the elderly. That is one block of voters the Dems cannot afford to lose and he’s working very hard to lose them. Despite Obamacare they’d still be around to vote in 2010 and 2012.
I wonder if AARP has gotten the message yet?
Heh heh. They've already lost, if they have to put out whiny denials like this.
Hey Obama, how's it feel to be punked by an unemployed housewife?
Just think! Somewhere out there are a couple of computer geeks who are going to make a lot of money with “freeinterventionscore.com”. You’ll be able to go online and find out your chances of being treated under the ObamaCare “healthcare” system.
Medicare Advantage works like this:
Medicare's cost is, roughly, $830.00 per MONTH per beneficiary. This is a 2008 figure, I believe, used to set the “capitation rate” or the “census rate” or what every you want to call the cost of Medicare divided by the number of Medicare beneficiaries. In other words, the plans DO save the government some money, in my opinion, because they look backwards for the funding amount, which is then transfered to the insurance companies if a beneficiary decides to enroll in Medicare Advantage. Any inflation for the current year is eaten, in effect, by the insurance company.
In a Medicare Advantage Plan, the government would send that $830.00 to the insurance company, in addition to sending about $91.00 of the $96.40 Medicare Part B premium to the insurance company. (Medicare Part B is means tested, the premium is not the same for everyone.)
If the beneficiary needs massive amounts of medical care, it doesn't matter, the insurance company must cover the entire loss.
Why are the plans good for Seniors?
Well, for one thing, there is usually NO PREMIUM or a very low Premium, to the Medicare beneficiary, for the plans, over and above what the government transfers to the plans on behalf of each beneficiary.
Premiums range from Zero to about $40.00 a month.
Unlike the traditional Medicare Supplement coverage, Medicare Advantage clients/beneficiaries are asked to pay more out of pocket expenses for doctors visits or hospital stays.
However, there is an “out of pocket maximum” in most of the plans, which limits the risk a great deal.
In most cases, a Medicare Supplement costs between $100.00 and $150.00 per month at age 65, for a Plan F, non smoker.
By the time the client reaches age 70, premiums might be well over $200.00 per month.
If you can get a Medicare Advantage plan, with ZERO premium, and a $2,500.00 out of pocket maximum, WHY PAY THE PREMIUM???
You are facing a GUARANTEED “loss” or expense, in premium payments, of $2,400 VS a slight possibility that you might pay a total of $2,500.00 in out of pocket expenses.
It should be noted that there is NO out of pocket limit for anyone who tries to insure themselves with Medicare, all by itself, with no supplement or MA plan.
Yes, there are some “extras” in the Medicare Advantage plans, depending on what you want. Most companies offer MAPD or Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans, where you can roll all of your insurance into one program.
Also, health clubs, some dental coverage, and some optical coverage, things you can not get in standard Medicare, are often offered in these plans.
Obama and the Marxists in Congress do not like Medicare Advantage because it is PRIVATIZED MEDICARE, and these guys are all about NATIONALIZATION, not Privatization!
If he destroys Medicare advantage, he is harming me. Harm me, beware of harm. That goes for congress and their staffs....
Despite some young twit's comment above, whose junk works like a bull in a china closet and gits all pumped up over Viagra, I'm one of those in a Medicare Advantage plan as are most of my Medicare beneficiary clients who live near metropolitan areas.
We're gonna be furious when we have to go back out and re-enroll in one of the miserable old standard "Medicare Supplement" policies that require a big monthly premium in addition to the premium for Part B and Part D already required!!!
Right now I pay only a Part B premium to the government directly from my Social Security and the first $1000 of claims which are screened and vastly reduced by Anthem Blue Cross and have several benefits that I wouldn't get at all with the standard Medicare with a standard supplement policy.
I pity Obama the moment these seniors learn the truth of this and really get screwed without any lovin, so to speak. We already know Obama doesn't need any Viagra to threaten senior's well being!!!
To say nothing of the 17,000 per district who will lose their HSA's, for a total of 40,000 per district. Add close friends and close relatives and you're talking about 100,000 motivated voters (and typically, there are only 200,000-300,000 votes actually cast per district. Maybe Newt was right about 100+ seat pick-up.
The list, ping
http://www.breitbart.tv/obamas-92-year-old-great-uncle-attends-health-care-town-hall/
Burn it, it will disappear.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
How about a Replacement-Knee Panel? [Paul Howard]
The ineluctable bloggress Megan McArdle highlights a NY Times article noting that, gasp, Obamacare may not turn out to be all sunshine and rainbows for Medicare recipients. She goes on to write that
“Waste, fraud and abuse”, that favorite old refrain, will probably not suffice to cut Medicare costs. Fears of “death panels” are way overblown. Fears of “Are second knee replacements worth it?” panels are not. And the infamous “overpayments to insurers” are actually paying for extra services, which the seniors in Medicare Advantage will probably lose, possibly along with Medicare Advantage, since providers may pull out. You may think that these are wasteful and seniors will end up just as happy back in traditional Medicare. But revealed preference seems to indicate that they prefer what they have.
What looks unnecessary to one bureaucrat will turn out to be a critical procedure to someone’s grandmother. Top-down decision making — which the administration wants more of in Medicare — can’t avoid this conundrum.
Seniors defend Medicare plan Obama calls ‘wasteful’
By John Fritze, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — One of the largest spending cuts Congress could rely on to pay for an overhaul of the nation’s health care system comes from a Medicare program President Obama has called a “wasteful” subsidy for the health insurance industry.
Don’t tell that to cancer survivor Maurice Engleman, 82, who says the controversial Medicare Advantage program — which allows seniors to buy Medicare coverage through private insurance companies — helped him beat cancer.
“There was a seamless link between the medical support and the emotional support,” said Engleman, who was diagnosed with tongue cancer last year within a week of his wife’s death. “I don’t believe Medicare would have taken care of the kind of services I required.”
Debate over Medicare Advantage, which has 10.2 million enrollees — about one-fifth of all Medicare participants — illustrates a broader struggle Congress and Obama face as they look for ways to pay for a $1 trillion overhaul of health care without raising taxes on the middle class or compromising care.
HEALTH CARE DEBATE: Share your story, view with our reporter
It has raised concerns among some seniors who might have to pay more for the program or enroll in regular Medicare instead. A Gallup Poll last week found 20% of Americans over 65 say an overhaul will improve their health care — the lowest showing of three age groups.
Medicare Advantage has its roots in the 1970s but was bolstered in 2003 in hopes that private companies could manage Medicare patients more efficiently. Partly because it often has lower out-of-pocket costs than traditional Medicare, enrollment has nearly doubled over six years, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report.
excerpt
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-04-healthcare_N.htm