In an attempt to help insure the uninsured, a new bill has been proposed to legislation that is suggesting Medicare funds be cut. In 10 years, $500 billion would be taken from the Medicare program if this bill were enacted. Senior citizens are being directly affected and have shown outrage to this new bill. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida explains his fears of the current bill in a September 23, 2009 article in the New York Times. In the article “Senator Tries to Allay Fears on Health Overhaul”, Nelson argues, “It would be intolerable to ask senior citizens to give up substantial health benefits they are enjoying on Medicare”.
The new bill being proposed would make huge changes in Medicare such as: raising premiums for some high-income beneficiaries, cutting payments to hospitals and nursing homes, and trimming payments for many “overvalued services” provided by doctors. Senator Nelson explained he is not willing to stand by and witness the one million Florida senior citizens be hurt by this bill.
This issue is causing a great deal of debate because the Democrats-the party that created Medicare- are being accused of tearing it apart. Republicans are using this new bill to their advantage and accusing Democrats of using Medicare as a piggy bank to pay for coverage of the uninsured. Democrats counter this argument by stating that without the new cost adjustments to Medicare, the trust fund could run out of money in 2017. This bill would save nearly $200 billion over 10 years by permanently reducing annual inflation adjustments in Medicare payments to hospitals and other providers. They would also cut special Medicare payments to hospitals serving large numbers of low-income people, on the assumption that more patients will have insurance.
This bill may be beneficial in the long run, but it will be a tough challenge for President Obama to convince senior citizens that this bill will actually benefit them in the long run. Medicare is an important system to senior citizens. The substantial benefits the elderly have gained from Medicare over the years will cause a strong resistance towards any change in the system.
Since Medicare benefits are something that senior citizens value, what incentives do you suggest legislation should propose for seniors to get on board with this new bill?
I think that this topic dealing with senior citizens and health care is very interesting. If I was receiving medicare funds, I would be very nervous to have such a drastic life style change. I think that Obama knows how important the opinions of the senior citizens are, so he is trying to hide, or put less emphasis on, the fact that his health care reform could have negative effects on their current health situations. He knows how important their votes and opinions are because they are more interested in the government and its policies about medicare than younger citizens, who do not think about it as much because it is not directly affecting them yet. I actually spoke to my grandparents about this topic and I found what they had to say very interesting. My Grandpa, who is 89 years old, explained to me that when Medicare was established the elderly were not living as long as they live today. He thinks that the age at which the elderly receive medicare should be changed to between 70-75 years old. He thinks that people are healthier today when they turn 65 than when the medicare bill was passed.When he was 65 he was pretty healthy and he even admits there was no reason for him to have government paid insurance at that age. I actually really agree with him because if we raise the age at which people receive medicare than that would definitely save a lot money. My Grandpa admits, that since he is on medicare he goes to the doctor more than he would if he was not on the medicare plan. The fact is that the elderly are living older than they were 50 years ago. Most of them are not in bad shape when they turn 65, so it would not be unethical or unfair to raise at the age at which they get medicare funding.
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