WASHINGTON, DC-Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander M. Levin (D-MI), issued the following statement as prepared for delivery at a hearing today on the Affordable Care Act and Medicare:
“Good morning and thank you to our two witnesses for joining us today to discuss the Affordable Care Act.
“For more than 45 years, Medicare has offered important health benefits for senior citizens and people with disabilities and has safeguarded financial stability for them and their families. The Affordable Care Act builds on the program’s strengths by investing in Medicare’s future, improving benefits, reducing costs for beneficiaries, and getting a better deal for taxpayers.
“During the reform debate and in the time since its enactment, health reform opponents have relied on myths and scare tactics to create fear and uncertainty amongst Medicare beneficiaries. What is really scary is the plan from Republicans to privatize Medicare through a voucher program.
“So let me set the record straight on health care reform and its impact on Medicare: The Affordable Care Act strengthens Medicare’s future, improves benefits for senior citizens and people with disabilities, and saves money for taxpayers.
“Here are the facts.
“Fact #1: The Affordable Care Act lowers costs to Medicare beneficiaries and improves benefits. Thanks to Medicare payment reforms and efforts to eliminate waste and fraud, beneficiaries will save on average almost $200 on their annual Part B premiums by 2019. Cost-sharing will also go down by more than $200 by 2019.
“Fixing the ‘donut hole’ created by Republicans, where coverage lapses just as needs increase, was a key improvement of the Affordable Care Act. We offered immediate assistance with drug costs by providing $250 to 3.3 million people who entered the donut hole. This year seniors who hit the donut hole will save an average of $500 because of the discount. By 2020, the donut hole will close completely and coverage will be the same throughout the benefit.
“Finally, seniors will reap further savings due to the elimination of cost-sharing for most preventive services and the creation of a new annual physical benefit for those who choose to use it.
“Fact #2: The Affordable Care Act significantly strengthens Medicare’s financial footing. The Affordable Care Act extends solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund by 12 years - making the program solvent until 2029.
“Fact #3: The Affordable Care Act modernizes the Medicare program. The Act contains an array of delivery system reforms, like medical homes and Accountable Care Organizations, to ensure that the program rewards value over volume and provides the right care to the right patient at the right time. In fact, health policy experts - including more than 270 leading economists - agree that the Affordable Care Act creates a more disciplined and effective health care system.
“Fact #4: The Affordable Care Act includes tough new fraud-fighting tools that are projected to save taxpayers approximately $5 billion in Medicare savings over ten years.
“The new law empowers CMS to stop fraud before it happens and hold providers accountable by expanding provider screening measures and increasing penalties for those engaging in fraudulent activities.
“But there is one more point I must stress, and it is the Republican agenda to repeal reform. The repeal agenda reverses the progress we have made. Repeal would raise beneficiary costs and substantially shorten Medicare’s solvency. Repeal would end delivery innovations and stops important new fraud-fighting powers in their tracks.
“My Republican colleagues’ focus on repealing health care reform - and privatizing Medicare by turning it into a voucher system - would move us in the wrong direction. This repeal agenda would shift medical expenses back onto seniors and their families, depleting their savings and leaving seniors and people with disabilities at the mercy of private insurance companies. When we passed Medicare, it was to fix these very problems - to ensure that seniors would no longer have to spend their retirement in poverty or in fear of their next illness. Repeal would do more than turn back the clock it would rip off its hands. That is a fact we cannot ignore and a possibility we must not accept."
