Are Boomers Turning 65 on a Collision Course With Health Care Reform?
Starting next year, baby boomers will be turning 65 at the rate of one every ten seconds. This means an average of 4 million New Seniors a year through 2030. They will join the 30 million existing New Seniors community who are already settled into this phase of life. One question being asked is what happens to Medicare now that the health care reform bill is beginning to kick in?
The current administration intends to cut $500 billion from Medicare. This is not a good sign since the largest generation in the history of the United States is ready to be eligible for this government program – one that has helped those over 65 since the mid-’60s. Already the popular Medicare Advantage, a mostly HMO plan and the choice for one out of five, is under attack and enrollees in some parts of the country could lose a third of their health care benefits.
Those with regular Medicare coverage will also be affected as government payments to participating hospitals and physicians will be cut by 30% over the next three years. So the boomers turning 65 may have a difficult time finding medical providers to cover them. And those already in the system may find fewer covered services and an increase in the premiums for the supplemental or gap plans that are designed to pick up the costs not included under Medicare.
Preventive care may be cut rather than encouraged, which may result in a short-term savings but produce longer-term problems that actually raise medical costs. Many tests and procedures will no longer qualify under new Medicare regulations. These range from MRIs and CT scans to hip and knee replacement surgeries and even some cancer and heart disease treatments.
An additional 32 million new people will be covered under the new health care bill. But insurers are not able to set annual limits or lifetime caps, and they must guarantee coverage of children now and probably others later. So the government needs to look for places to cut from older Americans in order to pay for younger people’s coverage.
What is over looked is that many receiving insurance are at the same income level as folks on Medicare. However, the newly insured may be able to increase their earnings, while those 65+ can not. This kind of re-distribution of resources means New Seniors will be penalized, even after working and paying taxes throughout their entire lives.
Things can certainly get worse, because the administration’s newly appointed Medicare Chief is an avid fan of the British system, the National Health Service. This single-pay plan is known for poor quality care and rationing of health services. Will this lead to the dreaded death panels, which some have predicted?
These are just a few reasons why New Seniors and the boomers turning 65 need to be concerned, so vote in November for those who will fight for real health care reform.
