Obamacare Has Helped Seniors Save Over $6 Billion On Their Prescription Drugs

[Warham]

How did Clinton do it and why do Republicans today (after 8 years of their leadership) not do it?

Clinton even did it without a law.....wow just smart or what?

Which party is in control now?

[SunisinuS]

Ben Franklin would probably think he was on some alien world if he saw what we've become. I wouldn't want the Founding Fathers to have to see this. They were much wiser than anyone in Congress today.

Your degrees don't piss me off at all but I've seen many educated people who are clueless about reality.

Yup and many more without. Guess we can agree on that.


As at least you had to pass 8th grade to even know who Ben Franklin was. Thank your taxpayers for forcing you to learn that fact. God Forbid they force (and pay for) you to get your High School diploma, that just may mean you vote different.

And Rush forbid, that you are forced to get health insurance...that broken ankle....is paid for by your good paying job at 14.


Rush Limbaugh suggests that children should seek cheap fast food or dumpster-dive to stave off hunger in the summer. Limbaugh's strained efforts to be provocative and over-the-top are neither insightful nor humorous

James Weill, President of the Food Research and Action Center

I was reminded of this from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"

The clerk, in letting Scrooge's nephew out, had let two other people in. They were portly gentlemen, pleasant to behold, and now stood, with their hats off, in Scrooge's office. They had books and papers in their hands, and bowed to him.

'Scrooge and Marley's, I believe,' said one of the gentlemen, referring to his list. 'Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr Scrooge, or Mr Marley?'

'Mr Marley has been dead these seven years,' Scrooge replied. 'He died seven years ago, this very night.'

'We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner,' said the gentleman, presenting his credentials.

'It certainly was, for they had been two kindred spirits. At the ominous word liberality, Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back.

'They are. Still,' returned the gentleman,' I wish I could say they were not.'

'The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?' said Scrooge.

'At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge,' said the gentleman, taking up a pen, 'it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.'

'Are there no prisons?"

'Plenty of prisons,' said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
'And the Union workhouses.' demanded Scrooge. 'Are they still in operation?'


'Both very busy, sir.'

'Oh. I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,' said Scrooge. 'I'm very glad to hear it.'

'Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,' returned the gentleman, 'a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?'

'Nothing!' Scrooge replied.

'You wish to be anonymous?'

'I wish to be left alone,' said Scrooge. 'Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned-they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.'

'Many can't go there; and many would rather die.'

'If they would rather die,' said Scrooge, 'they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

---from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I apologize again as one of my degrees is in the study of English....and Dickens used fantastical devices to illustrate Reality. The same way the human condition has always been heightened...you might read: The Lottery.



Roth On!

[Warham]

Far left Democrats in Washington?

There's no such thing (sadly).

It would be difficult to name 10 in the House that are even significantly left of center. Doubt you could name 5 in the Senate.

And none in the White House

Far left for this country, FORD. I don't count socialists.

You obviously can't be too happy with what is going on in Washington.

[Warham]

By some measure, I'm almost left-of-center because I have a strong libertarian streak running through me but Bush and Obama have both been disasters. This country is off the rails. We waste money on things we shouldn't and don't spend it on things we should.

[ashstralia]

We waste money on things we shouldn't and don't spend it on things we should.

you just perfectly described the current australian federal government.

[Nickdfresh]

Is factcheck.org the final word, FORD?

Who checks their facts?

Maybe you can, though you only seem worried when they contradict your beliefs...

[ELVIS]

Medicare Cuts To Hit Middle Class




WASHINGTON (AP) — Retired as a city worker, Sheila Pugach lives in a modest home on a quiet street in Albuquerque, N.M., and drives an 18-year-old Subaru.

Pugach doesn't see herself as upper-income by any stretch, but President Barack Obama's budget would raise her Medicare premiums and those of other comfortably retired seniors, adding to a surcharge that already costs some 2 million beneficiaries hundreds of dollars a year each.

More importantly, due to the creeping effects of inflation, 20 million Medicare beneficiaries would end up paying higher "income related" premiums for their outpatient and prescription coverage over time.
Administration officials say Obama's proposal will help improve the financial stability of Medicare by reducing taxpayer subsidies for retirees who can afford to pay a bigger share of costs. Congressional Republicans agree with the president on this one, making it highly likely the idea will become law if there's a budget deal this year.

But the way Pugach sees it, she's being penalized for prudence, dinged for saving diligently.
It was the government, she says, that pushed her into a higher income bracket where she'd have to pay additional Medicare premiums.

IRS rules require people age 70-and-a-half and older to make regular minimum withdrawals from tax-deferred retirement nest eggs like 401(k)s. That was enough to nudge her over Medicare's line.

"We were good soldiers when we were young," said Pugach, who worked as a computer systems analyst. "I was afraid of not having money for retirement and I put in as much as I could. The consequence is now I have to pay about $500 a year more in Medicare premiums."

Currently only about 1 in 20 Medicare beneficiaries pays the higher income-based premiums, which start at incomes over $85,000 for individuals and $170,000 for couples. As a reference point, the median or midpoint U.S. household income is about $53,000.

Obama's budget would change Medicare's upper-income premiums in several ways. First, it would raise the monthly amounts for those currently paying.

If the proposal were already law, Pugach would be paying about $168 a month for outpatient coverage under Medicare's Part B, instead of $146.90.

Then, the plan would create five new income brackets to squeeze more revenue from the top tiers of retirees.

But its biggest impact would come through inflation.

The administration is proposing to extend a freeze on the income brackets at which seniors are liable for the higher premiums until 1 in 4 retirees has to pay. It wouldn't be the top 5 percent anymore, but the top 25 percent.

"Over time, the higher premiums will affect people who by today's standards are considered middle-income," explained Tricia Neuman, vice president for Medicare policy at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "At some point, it raises questions about whether (Medicare) premiums will continue to be affordable."
Required withdrawals from retirement accounts would be the trigger for some of these retirees. For others it could be taking a part-time job.

One consequence could be political problems for Medicare. A growing group of beneficiaries might come together around a shared a sense of grievance.

"That's part of the problem with the premiums — they simply act like a higher tax based on income," said David Certner, federal policy director for AARP, the seniors lobby.

"Means testing" of Medicare benefits was introduced in 2007 under President George W. Bush in the form of higher outpatient premiums for the top-earning retirees. Obama's health care law expanded the policy and also added a surcharge for prescription coverage.

The latest proposal ramps up the reach of means testing and sets up a political confrontation between AARP and liberal groups on one side and fiscal conservatives on the other. The liberals have long argued that support for Medicare will be undermined if the program starts charging more for the well-to-do. Not only are higher-income people more likely to be politically active, they also tend to be in better health.

Fiscal conservatives say it makes no sense for government to provide the same generous subsidies to people who can afford to pay at least some of the cost themselves. As a rule, taxpayers pay for 75 percent of Medicare's outpatient and prescription benefits. Even millionaires would still get a 10 percent subsidy on their premiums under Obama's plan. Technically, both programs are voluntary.

"The government has to understand the difference between universal opportunity and universal subsidy," said David Walker, the former head of the congressional Government Accountability Office. "This is a very modest step towards changing the government subsidy associated with Medicare's two voluntary programs."

It still doesn't sit well with Sheila Pugach. She says she's been postponing remodeling work on her 58-year-old house because she's concerned about the cost. Having a convenient utility room so she doesn't have to go out to the garage to do laundry would help with her back problems.

"They think all old people are living the life of Riley," she said.

[Nickdfresh]

Pugach doesn't see herself as upper-income by any stretch, but President Barack Obama's budget would raise her Medicare premiums and those of other comfortably retired seniors, adding to a surcharge that already costs some 2 million beneficiaries hundreds of dollars a year each.

It's because shithead Republicans have a massive hard-on for "entitlement reform," meaning destroying the welfare state. There's no other way for "Obama" to get a budget done...

[Satan]

Nurse Presley doesn't even realize that the cartoon he posted and the article under it directly contradict each other.

If Obamacare was a "trojan horse" for "socialized medicine" (i.e. Medicare for all), then corporate insurance threatening Medicare would be the polar opposite of that.

[ELVIS]

Maryland Offers Glimpse at Obamacare Insurance Math

Proposed premiums for new policies for individuals will rise by 25 percent on average next year.

By Jay Hancock, Kaiser Health News Staff Writer


April 24, 2013 (Kaiser Health News) — In the latest preview of prices for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Maryland’s dominant insurer says proposed premiums for new policies for individuals will rise by 25 percent on average next year.

That’s lower than what some had predicted. Just three weeks ago, the insurer, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, had been looking at a proposed 50 percent increase. But the company revised that initial estimate, citing worries about affordability for consumers.

“Not only were we concerned about a potential hit to subscribers, but we were also concerned about price levels that were unattractive” to young customers seen as an important stabilizing force for the market, CareFirst CEO Chet Burrell said in an interview Wednesday.

Late Tuesday Maryland regulators posted proposed rates and benefits for health plans to be sold through an online exchange, a step required under the health act, known as the Maryland Health Connection.

Maryland is an important state to watch because it has embraced Obamacare’s insurance reforms, setting up its own marketplace. But there have been serious concerns that the insurance offered there — and on every other exchange across the country — might be too expensive for people to buy.

While most Marylanders younger than 65 have health plans through employers, the exchange’s plans for individuals and small employers are expected to play a key role in bringing coverage to the state’s 700,000 uninsured. That’s about 12 percent of the state’s population.

Many have warned that guaranteeing coverage at regulated prices for sick people would drive up the cost of insurance in the individual market. The ACA prohibits charging sicker members substantially more but allows plans to adjust premiums for age and other factors, within strict limits.

Taking those factors into account, CareFirst premiums for individual plans could rise as high as 150 percent next year for healthy young men and decrease slightly for someone older and sicker, Burrell said.

One current popular CareFirst plan with a $2,700 deductible costs “less than $115 per month” for men under 30, said Mark Hammett, a broker at Kelly & Associates Insurance Group in Hunt Valley, Md.

Consumer advocates were reluctant to draw conclusions from the raw rate filings for the exchange, which make it difficult to quote proposed prices for specific individuals. And they cautioned that filings by CareFirst and other carriers are only preliminary.

“Now the regulators take a look and say, ‘How do you justify these increases?’” said Kathleen Stoll, director of health policy for the pro-ACA consumer group Families USA. “That often results in a reduction to the proposed charges.”

Although prices may rise for some, benefits may be better and many will receive federal subsidies to pay the premiums, she said. Families USA estimates that some 361,000 Marylanders will be eligible for tax credits to pay insurance costs.

“Some people may actually spend much less out of pocket… and end up with a much better product and a much better situation to protect their family from financial devastation from illness,” she said.

That distinction may be initially lost on those focusing only on the premiums, however.

“To the average consumer who has insurance now, the rates will feel every bit like a rate increase,” said Joseph Antos, a health economist at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

CareFirst owns about 70 percent of Maryland’s individual insurance market, with about 120,000 members. Even most of them — 60 percent — won’t see the kind of increases CareFirst proposes because they’re in older, “grandfathered” plans that don’t have to comply with some requirements of the health law yet, Burrell said.

CareFirst and other carriers also filed plans for small employers, but because Maryland had already implemented small-group reforms similar to those that are included in the ACA, those prices weren’t expected to change much. For years Maryland has prohibited insurers from charging substantially more to small employers with sicker and older workforces.

Premiums for CareFirst’s small employer plans to be offered on the exchange next year are proposed to rise about 15 percent, Burrell said, mainly because of the rising cost of health care.

Burrell dismissed a reporter’s suggestion that Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, who has much riding on the success of the ACA in Maryland, might have pressured CareFirst to lower its initial filing premiums.

“Nobody asked,” he said. “We did it of our own volition.”

Maryland law requires the nonprofit CareFirst to promote health care affordability and accessibility. With the new, lower projected premiums, Burrell said, “we’re not expecting to make money. We’re expecting to lose money. If we’re going to lose it we’re going to lose it on behalf of subscribers and the community.”

Besides CareFirst, Kaiser Permanente, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Coventry Health and Evergreen Health Cooperative all filed to offer about 50 individual or small group plans on the exchange.

An Aetna spokesman said proposed premiums for Maryland small group plans would rise between 12 and 16 percent next year. United proposed average small group increases of from 15 to 28 percent, but premium changes could vary widely depending on the plan, said company spokesman Matt Stearns.

Aetna didn’t say what the average increase for individual plans would be. United hasn’t filed applications yet for Maryland individual plans.

“We currently offer individual coverage in Maryland, and we expect to do so next year,” United's Stearns said.

The O’Malley administration also stressed that the filings are not the final word on insurance prices under the health law.

“It is premature to reach any judgment or conclusion based on the rates as proposed,” said Carolyn Quattrocki, director of the Governor’s Office of Health Care Reform. “In the meantime, we are pleased that the filings confirm there will be robust participation in the Maryland Health Connection.”