Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee today continued to push their plan to end the Medicare guarantee during a Health Subcommittee hearing on the proposal - a plan that Democrats unanimously opposed last month because it would end a five-decade old guarantee and lead to dramatically higher health care costs for seniors. Here’s what eight leading beneficiary groups had to say about the proposal in their testimony submitted for today’s hearing:
AARP :
By creating a "premium support" system for future Medicare beneficiaries, any such proposal risks simply increasing costs for beneficiaries while removing Medicare's promise of secure health coverage -- a guarantee that future seniors have contributed to through a lifetime of hard work.
Consumers Union :
Consumers Union believes that this approach to addressing the real financial challenges to Medicare will not reduce overall health care costs, but will put millions of senior and disabled Americans at greater risk of higher costs, less coverage, or both.
Alliance for Retired Americans :
As Congress deliberates on ways to reduce health costs, members should keep the need of seniors and the disabled first and foremost on their minds and not make radical, harmful changes such as those in the Ryan Republican budget.
AFSCME :
The need for Medicare to remain a refuge against financial ruin caused by the caprice of illness and disability rings as true today as it did nearly half a century ago when Medicare was created. Any proposal to redesign or structurally change Medicare should be able to affirmatively meet at least three criteria which are at the heart and soul of Medicare.
* Does the proposal effectively spread risk and deliver guaranteed benefits of medically necessary care, regardless of an individual’s medical condition?
* Does the proposal effectively continue Medicare’s core function of pooling resources to finance health coverage for seniors and individuals with disabilities?
* Does the proposal effectively continue Medicare’s core purpose of protecting beneficiaries and their families from financial ruin due to illness, disease or injury?
The House-passed budget which restructures Medicare into premium supports, cuts benefits, raises the age of eligibility and repeals the ACA, fails on all three criteria.
Families USA:
The budget proposal is the latest attempt to turn Medicare into a private voucher system and comes with all the same problems as previous proposals. But the plan offers no explanation for how seniors and people with disabilities are expected to pay for the care they need as the value of their voucher declines. The roughly half of people with Medicare who have limited income would be forced to cut back on other necessities like food and shelter -or go without healthcare. If enacted, this proposal would fundamentally violate the promise that Medicare has made to current and future generations, which is to ensure access to comprehensive care at a time in their lives when they are most vulnerable.
Health Care for America Now :
Our parents and grandparents built the Medicare system, and hundreds of millions of Americans were well-served by it over the last half century. Now it’s our job to strengthen Medicare for future generations, not break it into pieces and turn it over to the insurance industry. Congress has the power to ensure that Medicare remains financially sound. Congress has a range of ways to trim Medicare’s costs, reduce waste and inefficiencies, and raise additional revenue to save public funds without privatizing Medicare and shifting more costs to vulnerable Americans.
National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare :
As you know, Medicare is a lifeline for many seniors in our country, and we at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare will continue to work with our members, as well as policymakers, to ensure that the program remains strong for all generations. This means opposing premium support proposals that are structured to reduce federal spending by increasing costs for Medicare beneficiaries, and supporting reforms, such as those included in the Affordable Care Act, that will improve both Medicare's financing and the care beneficiaries receive.
AFL-CIO:
The fact that Medicare has proven to be more cost effective than private health insurance plans over the past four decades suggests that the best way to contain future cost growth is to improve and expand Medicare by building on the payment and delivery reforms of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). By contrast, proposals to replace guaranteed Medicare benefits with a flat payment of premium support-also known as a voucher-would increase overall health care costs, shift costs to seniors and increase their out--of--pocket spending, create a two--tier health care system, make Medicare’s risk pool more expensive to cover, and ultimately leave Medicare to “wither on the vine." The claim that these premium support proposals would reduce overall health care costs is based on ideology rather than experience or facts.
