Medicare will be experiencing changes in the next few years. It has become very confusing to figure out what that means to our seniors. I found a great article that may help to answer some questions you have. I am posting page 1 of the article and you can follow the link to get to the next page.
If there are still more questions you have please post them here and I will research for you to find the answers you seek.
Have a wonderful day caregivers and if you ever find any other great resources let us know, Thanks!
Washington Many senior citizens worry about the effect that the health care reform bill may have on them. After all, they generally use the health care system more than do younger people. And those living on fixed incomes may have little leeway in their budgets to help if their health costs rise.
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The short answer is “yes.”
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The longer answer is that some seniors may lose Medicare benefits they now enjoy. Many others will gain from an enhancement of Medicare’s prescription-drug program.
Here are some specifics on these changes:
Medicare cuts
Under the healthcare reform bill, government payments to Medicare Advantage – plans that are run by private insurers such as Humana and are an alternative to traditional Medicare – will be cut by $132 billion over 10 years. (Those plans currently get somewhat more per person from the government than traditional Medicare does.)Medicare Advantage plans often offer extra benefits that seniors in traditional Medicare don’t get. It is possible that these extras will be dropped as Medicare Advantage plans feel a budget squeeze.
In most areas of the United States, this reduction will be phased in over three years, beginning in 2011, although in some places it will take longer.
The bill does not contain cuts to traditional Medicare benefits. However, Medicare payments for home healthcare would be reduced by $40 billion between now and 2019. And certain payments to hospitals would be cut by $22 billion over that same period.
Medicare enhancements
The bill would bolster the existing Medicare prescription-drug benefit by addressing part of its “doughnut hole” problem.Right now, after a senior has spent $2,700 on drugs in a year, coverage stops until that same person has spent $6,154 on drugs, when it starts up again.
Hence the “doughnut hole” nickname.
Beginning in 2010, people who fall into this hole will get $250 from the government to help. Thereafter, according to the bill, the US will gradually increase the percentage of drug costs it pays within this gap. By 2020, the US will pay 75 percent of senior drug costs between $2,700 and $6,154.
Medicare will also begin to pick up the tab for annual wellness visits. Page 2
