Posted on 09/11/2009 11:20:43 AM PDT by ElenaM
Wednesday night Obama stated that the $500 billion he wants to take from Medicare will NOT result in any reduction in Medicare benefits. This is an out-and-out lie and I’ll prove it.
I am a business systems analyst for the largest health claim processor in the country, and the third largest data warehouse in the world. My job is to ensure that our computer systems meet the business’ needs, thus I've have six years' experience in the regulatory, technical and business aspects of health insurance.
Background on Medicare Advantage (Med Adv)
Medicare Advantage was created in 1997/2003 to address several issues with traditional Medicare:
- More and more providers—doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, medical supply companies, etc.—were refusing to accept Medicare’s substandard reimbursements. Medicare beneficiaries had trouble finding providers to even treat them. See this study from 2000. "INCREASING FEAR OF PROSECUTION OR GOVERNMENT RETALIATION HAS HAD A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON MEDICARE PATIENTS' ACCESS TO DOCTORS AND THEIR ABILITY TO RECEIVE CERTAIN SERVICES SUCH AS SURGERY"
- Benefits allowed under traditional Medicare were being reduced.
- The costs associated with traditional Medicare were outstripping all ability to pay
The Federal government decided to let private companies have a stab at it by paying private companies to offer coverage to Medicare beneficiaries. The fees paid by traditional Medicare beneficiaries are sent to the private insurance company in lieu of premiums. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services dictated a basic level of benefits, but private companies could offer more benefits as desired. And all Med Adv policies far exceed the baseline.
As an aside, the infamous “doughnut hole” is required by CMS regulations, not the Med Adv sponsor companies.
The competition among Med Adv plans is intense despite the laws that restrict all policies sold to geographic limits. Med Adv beneficiaries may select a plan that meets their specific health needs. For example, if Company A doesn’t offer the formulary a beneficiary needs but Company B’s formulary does, the beneficiary is free to move to Company B. Med Adv beneficiaries can change their policy once per year during open enrollment.
No Medicare beneficiary is required to move to Med Adv. Any beneficiary may remain with traditional Medicare if they so choose.
Analysis
While benefit structures vary by policy, every single Med Adv policy covers far more than traditional Medicare. For example:
- Med Adv covers vision services. Medicare doesn’t.
- Med Adv covers hearing aids. Medicare doesn’t.
- Med Adv formularies are two to three times larger than Medicare. A formulary is the list of prescription medications covered under the policy. Compare this formulary to the Medicare formulary. Formularies are readily available using a Google search for further comparison.
- Med Adv beneficiaries have access to the insurance companies’ network of providers. As a member of a private insurance company, existing network contracts apply to Med Adv members.
If, as Obama indicated in The Speech, Med Adv is scrapped Medicare beneficiaries will experience, among other things:
- No vision coverage.
- No hearing aid coverage.
- Severely restricted access to providers, including the likely loss of their current physicians, both primary and specialists.
By any measure, that’s a reduction of benefits to Medicare recipients.
Additionally, traditional Medicare does not have a prescription drug plan. All Medicare Part D plans are owned and operated by private insurance companies. If, as Obama suggested, all private insurance companies are going to be booted out of Medicare, beneficiaries will go back to traditional Medicare's formulary--which covers only a few dozen drugs.
This is not a comprehensive list of lost benefits. It's only those I could think of off the top of my head.
Among the many outright lies spoken during that speech, this is the most egregious. At last count, more than 25% of Medicare recipients are Med Adv members. By eliminating Med Adv, Obama and Congress are denying those recipients the expanded coverage they’ve enjoyed via private insurance.
You may read more about Med Adv from CMS' website.
If you've any questions feel free to ask. But please, don't fall for that particular lie.
The proof of his lies are his lips moving.
“Wednesday night Obama stated that the $500 billion he wants to take from Medicare will NOT result in any reduction in Medicare benefits. This is an out-and-out lie and I’ll prove it.”
We could say obvious, but the liberal media is reporting Obama is like a combination of Superman and Houdini who can make a cut not a cut.
Unfortunately, Wilson did not say it about the $500 billion cut, but at perhaps the worst time on the most confusing issue.
Wilson gave the Democrats a juicy distraction easily repulsed, hiding the rest of the speech’s blatant wrongs.
During the campaign last year, BO was fond of talking to his welfare-class voters about “sharing the pie.” Any idiot can figure out that the more pieces you cut, the smaller they have to be. We will not have enough money, nor will there be enough doctors (particularly since thousands will retire early rather than work on a government “salary,” controlled by the Democrats in Congress). Should this pass, within 20 years, the word “Democrat” will be a curse word.
But — but — they’re MOVING ALL THE TIME.
He says NOTHING better than anybody!
HE TALKS TOO MUCH!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-SP_JzyRFs
Obama has lied all the way to the White House.
We need to Abolish Medicare.
So, No Obama, not everybody steals every chance they get; not everybody lies with every breath; not everybody uses dope when they can score a cheap hit.
Man's been building up his street cred to make money off poor people in the Southside of Chicago and simply isn't prepared for the real world.
My new desktop background.
Sums up everything Dear Leader says.
“Wilson said on the local talk show yesterday that his anger was building through the entire thing, and broke at that point.”
Could of, should of, would of.
The reality is, if he made the “You lie” statement at the moment of the $500 billion mark,
His opponent would not be getting more money, there would not be the amount of articles debunking him, front page.
“Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.”
Changed my signs for tomorrow.
Joe is right.
HR 3200 Section 245
gives ObamaCare benefits
to Illegal Immigrants.
Based on this:
Section 245 of House Democrats’ government takeover of health care (H.R. 3200) includes language requiring verification of income for individuals wishing to receive federal health subsidies under the bill. However, the bill includes no requirement for individuals to verify their citizenship, immigration status, or identity before enrolling in federal government programs, potentially allowing ineligible individuals, including undocumented immigrants, to receive taxpayer-subsidized health benefits.
In fact, nothing in any of the Democrat bills would require individuals to verify their citizenship or identity prior to receiving taxpayer-subsidized benefits-making the President’s promise one that the legislation itself does not keep.
http://www.gop.gov/policy-news/print/09/09/11/house-democrats-break-president-obama
The other side says Looking for Fraud? Waste? Abuse? Audit ACORN. Audit The Fed.
I read an article which said not to go with the birth certificate issue.
I’ll add one thing for you, Elena.
My doctor refuses to take in Medicare patients, but he will accept patients who ARE in MedAdv.
I’m not surprised, AFPhys. I hear that a LOT.
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