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Asclepios

Your Weekly Medicare Consumer Advocacy Update

Real Money

June 5, 2008 • Volumee 8, Issue 23

The bill Democrats plan to bring to a vote this month would spend about

$4.5 billion over the next five years so that more low-income people with

Medicare could receive help paying for their prescription drugs and

medical care without eating into modest savings they have put away for

emergencies. The money, part of a larger bill that averts a Medicare pay

cut for doctors set to take effect July 1, would also improve Medicare

coverage of prescription drugs and preventive and mental health

services.

The proposed Medicare improvements amount to 0.0015 percent of the $2.866

trillion taxpayers will spend to pay doctors, hospitals, insurance

companies and other Medicare providers over the next five years. The

insurance giant Humana will take in more money in taxpayer subsidies and

enrollee premiums for their Medicare private health plans just in the

first six months of this year.

Unfortunately, with a few brave exceptions, Senate Republicans oppose

spending the additional $4.5 billion to help older Americans and people

with disabilities with their medical costs. The Republicans have drafted

an alternative bill that excludes most of the provisions in the

Democratic bill that actually help people with Medicare.

While $4.5 billion is a modest amount by Medicare standards, it will buy

real improvements to Medicare. For example:

A widow living on $1,000 a month would no longer be disqualified from

assistance to pay for her Part B premium—nnow nearly $100 a month—just

because she has $5,000 in the bank.. Those who help elderly family members with their day-to-day expenses

would no longer have to worry that this assistance rendered their

relatives ineligible for Extra Help with their prescription drug costs. Coverage for mental health services will be put on par with coverage

for physical ailments, reducing therapy copayments for people with

Medicare.

It is time for the Senate to put aside partisan squabbling and enact

these important Medicare reforms.

Please write and urge your senator to support improvements to low-income

programs in the Medicare bill.

Medical Record

“Washington, D.C. - Senator Gordon H. (R-OR) announced today

that he will support the Democratic Medicare package aimed at fixing

scheduled reductions in physician payments. Senator ’s

endorsement of the bill was driven by the inclusion of key provisions

fought for by to improve the Medicare program by increasing access

to affordable prescription drugs for low-income seniors, parity in mental

health co-payments and enhanced coverage for drugs critical to treating

mental illnesses, cancer, HIV/AIDS, epilepsy, autoimmune diseases and

transplant patientsâ€

(“

Lends His Support to Democrats’ Medicare Improvement

Package,†June 2008).

“A rural client assisted by SHIBA receives $1,267 per month from

Social Security and has no assets at all. He used everything he had to

pay off his trailer. His ex-wife still lives with him and she pays him

$300 to help him with the heat, utilities and the $250 trailer space fee.

The help makes him ineligible for LIS [Part D Extra Help]. He has prior

medical bills to pay and so he has to go to the local homeless shelter to

get his diabetes medicinesâ€

(

Testimony of Emerson, program manager for the Oregon Senior Health

Insurance Benefits Assistance Program, before the U.S. Senate Committee

on Aging, May 2008).

“Medicare continues to be a strong driver for us, and we firmly

believe that our 2009 results will continue the growth trajectory "

from the recent past, [Humana CEO Mike] McCallister said. . . Medicare

Advantage premiums totaled $3.17 billion in the first quarter, up 15

percent from a year ago. Medicare Advantage membership was up 14 percent

from a year agoâ€

(“

Medicare Advantage Drives Humana Profits Above Expectations,â€

Associated Press, April 2008).

* * * *

Medicare Part D Appeals Help for Advocates is here!

MRC’s new Medicare Part D Appeals: An advocate’s manual to

navigating the Medicare private drug plan appeals process offers an

easy-to-understand, comprehensive overview of the entire appeals process,

including real-life case examples, a glossary of important appeals terms,

a sample protocol for advocates, and links to important resources.

Download a

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copy of this great resource.

* * * *

Medicare Part D Monitoring Project

The Medicare Rights Center (MRC) would like to hear about your

experience, or that of someone you know, enrolled in a Medicare private

drug plan. With information about what the issues are with Medicare Part

D, we will be able to demand that those problems be fixed.

Submit your story at

http://www.medicarerights.org/partdstories.html.

* * * *

The Louder Our Voice, the Stronger Our Message

Asclepios —named for the Greek and Roman god of medicine who, acclaimed

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Greece—is a weekly e-newsletter designed to keep you up-to-datte with

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* * * *

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