Candidates Quiet About Medicare
Issue #22, Date: August 21, 2008.
Can health care reform really happen in '09? Why or why not? Tell me at
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Week's Top Trends:
1. Both presidential candidates are playing down Medicare as the elections near because they both know this favorite entitlement needs major changes to survive.
2. Not only are Harry and Louise back, but AHIP says it welcomes their return, even with the new sponsors.
SPECIAL NOTE: I’ve been getting a stream of great suggestions from our readers about health care fixes they think would make a difference. Read some of them here...
1. NPR’s Julie Rovner has pointed out that both Obama and McCain are trying to avoid talking about Medicare very much, because it’s such a looming problem. This quote, from health policy analyst Marilyn Moon
says it all: “Somebody is going to have to take a hit. It's either going to be taxpayers, or the beneficiaries of the program, or the people who provide the services. And nobody wants to tackle any of those groups…”. Read More...
2. The famous “Harry and Louise” ads that helped undo Hillary Clinton’s first attempt to redesign the country’s health system are back, just with different sponsors who are now trying to use the once skeptical pair to keep health reform alive. Those sponsors include the AHA, Families USA, and NFIB. An insurance industry group sponsored the first “Harry and Louise” ads. Still, this time around, Karen Ignagni, CEO of AHIP, at least appeared with the new sponsors at a press event and said AHIP supports the campaign because good reform stems from “…diverse stakeholders from across the spectrum working together to find common ground.”
See how AHIP’s own reform plan compares to AHA’s and others on our unique Plan Comparison Grid.
NEW PLAN BRIEF ADDED: We’ve added a plan brief for Physicians for a National Health Plan
to the website.
Check in for news, analysis, facts, and opinion highlights at www.reformplans.com
BY THE NUMBERS:
The total number of consumer-driven health plans increased by 43 percent over 2007. They now account for nearly 13 percent of all plans offered by employers according to United Benefit Advisors (Atlanta Business Chronicle, 08/19/08).
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Experts Comment
Susan Fraley, MS & RN
Medicare should have never been changed to begin with. This "donut" hole thing is ridiculous. Many seniors are adversely effected and the program(s) are difficult to understand. I think it should have been left alone and more tax dollars and withholding should have been utilized to pay for it. Cost would actually go down because people who can't afford such things as insulin and hypertensive medications ultimately become sicker and cost the system more. More...
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