Older Americans fear health care reform = rationing — MedCity Morning Read, Aug. 24, 2009

AARP tele-town hall meeting on health care, June 28, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. — White House officials and Democrats in Congress say older Americans’ fears that medical care rationing would result from reforming the nation’s health care system are based on myths and falsehoods. But Medicare beneficiaries and insurance counselers say there’s something to consider in those concerns, according to the New York Times.

Bills now in Congress would squeeze efficiencies out of both Medicare — the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled — as well as Medicaid — the federal health program for the poor — to pay for reform. President Obama has said repeatedly that some $600 million could be saved over 10 years through efficiencies gained in these programs.

In his June 13 weekly address, Obama reminded Americans that he and his administration already was setting up more than $300 billion in savings over a decade in their 2010 budget. These savings would come from “changes like reducing Medicare overpayments to private insurers, and rooting out waste in Medicare and Medicaid,” Obama said.

In that address, the president outlined an additional $313 billion in savings from “commonsense changes. For example — if more Americans are insured, we can cut payments that help hospitals treat patients without health insurance. If the drug makers pay their fair share, we can cut government spending on prescription drugs. And if doctors have incentives to provide the best care instead of more care, we can help Americans avoid the unnecessary hospital stays, treatments, and tests that drive up costs,” Obama said.

The proposed Medicare cost cutting, coupled with proposals to compare the effectiveness of medical treatments and reimburse doctors for end-of-life discussions with patients leads to the conclusion of rationed care, in the eyes of many older Americans, the New York Times said. “I don’t think we will get the quality of health care with this plan that we get now,” James Aronis, 79, of Wichita, Kan., told the Times.

The House version of reform legislation would help older Americans with their drug costs, eliminate co-payments for screenings and preventive care, and provide financial incentives for better coordinate care, the Times said. But a survey released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that 34 percent of people 65 and older believed they would be worse off “if the president and Congress passed health care reform,” while 23 percent believed they would be better off.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, better known as MedPAC, an independent federal panel that conducts annual surveys of Medicare beneficiaries, says they generally believe they now have good access to care, the Times said. However, the reality is, “Medicare is nearly broke,” James Ivey, 66, of Deer Park, Wis., told the Times.

More stories worth a read: