Posts filed under ‘Public vs. Private Health Coverage’

Fact: Health Care Reform is Good for Medicare

March 23rd marks the first anniversary of the health care reform law. Health care reform is good for people and good for Medicare. It provides a boost for Medicare solvency and adds important benefits for Medicare beneficiaries. It also provides new coverage for sick children and for uninsured young adults. In these ways, older people, people with disabilities and their families are already benefiting from health care reform; they stand to gain even more in the years ahead. Unfortunately, efforts to repeal the law and to stop funding its implementation, threaten the future of Medicare and the improved benefits for Medicare beneficiaries and their families.

The Center for Medicare Advocacy has already seen how health reform has improved the lives of Connecticut’s 560,000 Medicare beneficiaries. For example, as a result of the health care reform law:

• Medicare beneficiaries no longer have to pay for preventive services such as mammographies, prostate screenings, glaucoma screenings, and diabetes management.
• Medicare beneficiaries are now able to have an annual wellness visit and to develop a health plan with their physicians.
• Medicare beneficiaries with particularly high medication needs are paying less for their medicines.
• Major efforts to eliminate fraud and waste in Medicare are underway.
• Billions of dollars in overpayments to private Medicare Advantage (MA) health plans are being phased out; while bonuses will be paid for those MA plans that do a laudable job.
• The long-term solvency of the Medicare program has been extended by approximately 12 years, until 2029.
• Families also benefit because older and disabled people have better Medicare coverage and security, insurance companies are prohibited from denying access to children with pre-existing conditions, and young adults up to age 26 can now get coverage under their parents’ health insurance.

All these benefits will end if the bills in Congress to de-fund health care reform pass, or repeal efforts succeed. The myriad additional benefits going into effect between now and 2014, when health care reform is fully implemented, will disappear. Medicare costs to taxpayers and beneficiaries alike will increase dramatically and the Medicare program itself will be in jeopardy.

Health care reform is good for Medicare, good for Medicare beneficiaries, and good for families. Funding and implementation of the law should proceed.

March 23, 2011 at 2:20 pm Leave a comment

Health Care Reform: A Family Value – Support it!

While some work to repeal Health Care Reform, others are already benefiting from its provisions.

People who have already benefited from health reform are at both ends of the age spectrum. Young and old, they reflect the family value of the law, particularly given these tough economic times when jobs are lost, unavailable, and employers are increasingly dropping benefits.

Here are some stories the Center for Medicare Advocacy has heard in just the last day:

1. A Connecticut State Health Insurance and Assistance Program (SHIP) counselor writes: “I know a lot of our seniors will benefit from the government slowly getting rid of the Donut Hole in prescription drug coverage.” This is echoed by many others including:
• An older Connecticut woman and her niece, from Delaware, both went into the Donut Hole in 2010 and both received $250 as a result of health care reform to help out.
• A gentleman from Florida reached the Donut Hole in both 2009 and 2010, and expects to do so again in 2011. He appreciated the $250 help in 2010 and, given his heart and other health problems, he will certainly benefit from health reform’s 50% discount on Brand name drugs in 2011.

2. Another individual writes:
• “I have a sister who is 25 years old and was unable to find a job that would provide health care coverage due to the economy. She has very serious ear problems and required two major surgeries to replace her ear drum in both ears. If she was not able to be on our parents’ health insurance plan, she would not have been able to afford the surgeries and would have gone completely deaf. It is very difficult to be a young person out of college during these times. Even if you can find a job, it is very difficult to find a full time job with health benefits. I consider myself extremely lucky that I did find a job with benefits, but do know many who had no health insurance for some time. These young people need the cushion of being on their parents’ insurance until 26 when they can find a stable job with health benefits because in this economy, less and less employers are offering benefits to young people.”

The importance of health reform allowing young adults to obtain coverage on their parent’s health insurance plan is reiterated by another individual:

• “ I can personally speak for the kids 26 and under part of this. I have two kids under 26. One does not live at home. He is 22 and working at a job without health insurance. He would have no health insurance without being able to stay on my insurance. He was able to have an expensive blood test to find out if he has a potentially life threatening blood disorder because he had my health insurance to cover it.”

3. Four of the Center for Medicare Advocacy’s own employees have young adult children who have lost their jobs or are employed, but their employers do not provide health insurance. Again, these young people only have health insurance as a result of health care reform which allows them to be covered by the Center’s health insurance. At least one of these young adults has an on-going mix of mental health and medical problems that require on-going health care.

Health care reform is helping families struggling to deal with illnesses, age, unemployment, and underemployment. The law advances family values.

January 4, 2011 at 6:48 pm Leave a comment

What is a Quality Medicare Advantage Health Plan?

It’s open enrollment season again, and Medicare beneficiaries and their families are barraged with mail, TV and radio commercials, and print ads describing the Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plan (PDP) options in their area. This year, Congress and Medicare would like people to consider the quality ratings of plans when making their choice for 2011. Beneficiaries can find quality information about plans on the Medicare Plan Finder tool. Plans are evaluated on a 5-star rating system that looks at medical care as well as customer relations, including complying with CMS rules about marketing and about appeals.

Quality ratings are so important that the new health reform law, the Affordable Care Act, awards quality bonuses, starting in 2012, to all Medicare Advantage plans if they score at least 4 out of 5 stars on the Medicare 5-star rating system. Quality ratings are so important that CMS, the Medicare agency, even moved up the starting date of and expanded eligibility for the quality bonus payments to Medicare Advantage plans. In fact, Medicare has created a demonstration project for 2011 that will give Medicare Advantage plans a bonus payment if they achieve 3 out of 5 stars on the star system.

But what does it mean to be rated “a high-quality Medicare Advantage Health Plan?”

Ask Arcadian Health Plans, a parent company that has been in existence since 1997, and that offers Medicare Advantage plans in 15 states. On November 17th Arcadian sent out press releases to many of the communities in which they offer Medicare Advantage plans to announce that they had been awarded the 2011 Senior Choice Gold Award by HealthMetrix Research “for excellent value among Medicare Advantage plans.” See, e.g., Southeast Community Care’s Medicare Advantage Part D Plan is Rated the #1 Value for Medicare Beneficiaries in the Roanoke Area, http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/southeast-community-cares-medicare-advantage-part-d-plan-is-rated-the-1-value-for-medicare-beneficiaries-in-the-roanoke-area-108768449.html; Texas’ Community Care’s Medicare Advantage Part D Plan Is Rated the #1 Value for Medicare Beneficiaries http://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=540001&Itemi.

Yet, two days later, on November 19th, CMS announced it was sanctioning Arcadian Health Plans and two other health plan sponsors and not allowing them to market or enroll new beneficiaries. Arcadian is being sanctioned for violations in marketing the plans they offer to beneficiaries. For example, Arcadian has given beneficiaries incorrect information about whether their doctor is in the plan network or whether their prescription is on the plan’s formulary. Arcadian plan agents may even have enrolled people into health plans who had not consented to, let alone known about, the enrollment. And, according to the letter CMS sent to the plan, CMS has been looking at Arcadian’s marketing activities since 2008.
See, http://op.bna.com/hl.nsf/id/bbrk-8bcule/$File/Arcadian%20Sanctions%20Letter.pdf.

If CMS is going to suggest that beneficiaries consider enrolling in particular, “highly-rated,” Medicare Advantage plans or PDPs because of the quality of coverage and services they provide, and if these plans are going to get extra bonus payments, we need to be clear about what a high quality plan is – and is not!

Perhaps Arcadian’s press releases are another example of marketing violations that should be investigated by CMS.

November 22, 2010 at 6:15 pm Leave a comment

Medicare’s 45th Anniversary: Promise Kept and Promises to Keep

July 30th marks the 45th anniversary of Medicare. When President Johnson signed the Medicare program into law in 1965, he ushered in an era of better health and financial security for older Americans and their families. Medicare did what private insurance failed to do – provide health coverage for people age 65 and older. Over the years Medicare was expanded to cover other people not popular with private insurance: people with disabilities, End Stage Renal Disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Today, 47 million older and disabled people receive health insurance and access to health care through Medicare.

In 2010, when President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law (also known as the health care reform law), he helped ensure a brighter financial future for Medicare, better coverage for beneficiaries, and reduced costs for beneficiaries and taxpayers.  Health care reform will extend the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund by about twelve years, add preventive benefits without cost-sharing for beneficiaries, and improve the Part D prescription drug program. It will likely result in reduced Part B premiums for most beneficiaries.  Health care reform will also slow the privatization of Medicare that over the past decade has added costs without corresponding benefit. In 2010, therefore, it’s particularly important to remember and celebrate the effect that Medicare has had on this country, and its importance to the daily lives of millions of Americans.

We forget what it was like before Medicare (and Social Security and Medicaid). Before Medicare, half of all older people had no insurance. Private insurance companies did not want to cover this population because of their age and chronic conditions. When health insurance was available, many older people could not afford it. In 1965, 25% of Medicare beneficiaries lived in poverty.  Medicare has enhanced the health and financial security of older people and their families; they no longer have to worry about paying for catastrophic medical costs.  Because of Medicare, virtually all Americans age 65 or older are insured.

Medicare has had a remarkably broad, positive impact on the country’s well-being in so many ways. Did you know, for example, that by refusing to pay for care at segregated facilities, Medicare helped desegregate hospitals and other health care institutions?

Today, traditional Medicare continues to be one of the most flexible health insurance programs available. The program covers care provided by a broad array of doctors, hospitals, home health agencies and other health care providers. The 75% of Medicare beneficiaries who are currently in the traditional Medicare program can choose virtually any doctor, hospital, or other provider that accepts Medicare, anywhere in the country.

Further, unlike people who receive health insurance through private insurance coverage, Medicare beneficiaries don’t have to worry about having their health insurance rescinded if they become sick or file “too many” claims. Nor will Medicare exclude coverage based on a pre-existing condition or impose annual or life-time payment caps.

It’s no wonder that Medicare is very popular with the people it serves. In fact, Medicare beneficiaries rate their satisfaction with Medicare much higher than workers with employer-sponsored insurance rate their health care coverage, citing access to providers in particular.[1]

Despite Medicare’s success, however, it faces serious challenges and threats – some real, some imagined, some imposed. The increased role of Medicare private plans during the last decade took a toll on Medicare’s well-being. Private plans were paid approximately 14% more on average than traditional Medicare would have been paid to cover the same services. Fortunately, these overpayments will be gradually turned back, pursuant to the health care reform law, resulting in adding about twelve years to the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund.

Some policy-makers, however, including the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, are focused on reducing the federal deficit by limiting programs such as Medicare.  Others continue to call for turning Medicare into a voucher program, or increasing the age of eligibility, or continuing to income-base benefits  cost-sharing. These approaches threaten the promise of Medicare as a  program providing stable, uniform coverage to all its beneficiaries.

Indeed, Medicare’s future as a public social insurance program with a uniform benefit and cost-sharing system has been whittled away during the last ten years.  Medicare private plans (known as Medicare Advantage plans) were given increased funding and more market-share during the Bush Administration.  In 2003 the Part D prescription drug benefit was initiated only through private plans.   Part B and D cost-sharing mechanisms are increasingly based on the individual’s income.  All this has eroded the single community of interest among all beneficiaries, rich, poor, healthy, or infirm, that has kept Medicare strong. 

So, while celebrating Medicare, we also urge vigilance lest we inadvertently return to the circumstances before Medicare – when so many older and disabled people could not obtain health insurance. Our goal is to keep Medicare’s promise to provide fair access to health care through a stable, unified program. In this way we can help ensure that Medicare’s 45th anniversary will mark its grand maturity, not its mid-life crisis.

_______________

Medicare’s 45th Anniversary from President Obama and HHS Secretary Sebelius:  www.Medicare.gov;  www.whitehouse.gov !

[1] Mark Blumenthal, “Who’s Afraid of Public Insurance?” National Journal (June 29, 2009) http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/mp_20090629_2600.php

July 29, 2010 at 8:30 pm 2 comments

Thank you! 60 Senators Bring Us One Step Closer to Health Care Reform

True, the bill that passed the Senate is far from perfect. But, can you imagine what the opposition would be saying if the bill met our standards for true health care reform?  As it is, the brave Senators who led this battle have endangered their political careers. This includes Senator Chris Dodd (CT), senior Senator from the Center for Medicare Advocacy’s  home state. 

So we thank Senator Dodd and everyone who worked to get this good bill passed.  Here are some highlight’s from Families USA: Manager’s amendment: Providing more competition and affordable choices for Americans ; Manager’s amendment: Improving quality and controlling costs ; Manager’s amendment: Enhancing affordable choices for small businesses .

Get some rest, all!   Another big push to provide health care equity awaits us after we ring in 2010.

December 24, 2009 at 3:13 pm Leave a comment

It Takes 2 To Tango: Senator Baucus Tells The Truth About (Not)Bipartisan Health Care Reform

Senate Floor Remarks of Senator Max Baucus  December 22, 2009

“Mr. President, it has been more than a month since the Majority Leader moved to proceed to the health care reform bill before us today.  At long last, the Senate is now in the final throes of passing this historic legislation.

From the beginning, this Senator has sought out what Abraham Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature.”  That’s the way that this Senator has always sought to legislate.

A year and a half ago, I convened a bipartisan retreat at the Library of Congress.  Half a year ago, I convened three bipartisan roundtables with health care experts.  Half a year ago, the Finance Committee conducted three bipartisan walk-throughs of the major concepts behind the bill before us today.

We went the extra mile.  I reached out to my good friend, the Ranking Republican Member of the Finance Committee.  I reached out to the ranking Republican Member of the Health Committee.  We sought to craft a bill that would appeal to the broad middle.  We sought to craft a bill that could win the support of Republicans and Democrats alike.

We met, a group of six of us, three Democrats and three Republicans.  We met more than 30 times.  We met for months.  No, we did not reach a formal agreement.  The Leadership on the other side of the aisle went to great lengths to stop us from doing so.

But even though we did not reach a formal agreement, we came very close to doing so.  The principles that we discussed are very much the principles upon which the Finance Committee built its bill.  The principles that we discussed are very much the principles reflected in the bill before us today.

From the debate that the Senate has conducted this past month, you would not know it.  During this debate, some on the other side of the aisle have mischaracterized the bill before us.  Some on the other side of the aisle have set about a systematic campaign to demonize this bill.  Through bare assertion alone, with the thinnest connection to fact, they have sought to vilify our work.  If one listened to their assertions alone, one would not recognize the bill before us.

And so, let me, quite simply, state the facts.

Some on the other side of the aisle assert that this bill is a Government takeover of health care.  The fact is that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that this bill would reduce the Government’s fiscal role in health care.  Just 3 days ago, CBO wrote, and I quote:“CBO expects that the proposal would generate a reduction in the federal budgetary commitment to health care during the decade following the 10-year budget window.”

Some on the other side of the aisle assert that this bill would add to our Nation’s burden of debt.  The fact is that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that this bill would reduce the deficit by $132 billion in the first 10 years and by between $650 billion and $1.3 trillion in the second 10 years.  The fact is that this is the most serious deficit reduction effort in more than a decade.

Some on the other side of the aisle assert that this bill would harm Medicare.  The fact is that Medicare’s independent Actuary says that this bill would extend the life of Medicare by 9 years.  The fact is that this is the most responsible effort to shore up Medicare in more than a decade.

Some on the other side of the aisle assert that this bill does not do enough to ensure the uninsured.  The fact is that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that this bill would extend access to health care to 31 million Americans who otherwise would have to go without.  The fact is that CBO says, and I quote: “the share of legal nonelderly residents with insurance coverage would rise from about 83 percent currently to about 94 percent.”

Nothing that Senators on the other side of the aisle have proposed would come close.  CBO estimated that the Republican substitute offered in the House of Representatives would have extended coverage to just 3 million people.  The fact is that CBO says of that plan, and I quote: “The share of legal nonelderly residents with insurance coverage in 2019 would be about 83 percent, roughly in line with the current share.”

I would cite the facts about the Republican substitute in the Senate.  But the fact is that there is no Republican substitute.

Some on the other side of the aisle assert that they simply prefer a more modest reform of health care.  The fact is that the Republicans controlled the Senate from 1995 to 2001 and from 2003 to 2006.  The fact is that before they took control, in 1994, 36 million Americans, 15.8 percent of non-elderly Americans were without health insurance coverage.  In the last year of their control, in 2006, nearly 47 million Americans, 17.8 percent of non-elderly Americans were without health insurance coverage.  The legacy of Republican control was 10 million more Americans uninsured.

Some on the other side of the aisle say that we are moving too fast.  The fact is that it was 1912 when former President Theodore Roosevelt first made national health insurance part of the Progressive Party’s campaign platform.  The fact is that people of good will have been working at this for nearly a century.

The fact is, health care reform for America is now within reach.  The fact is, the most serious effort to control health care costs is now within reach.  The fact is, life-saving health care coverage for 31 million Americans is now within reach.

Let us, at long last, grasp that result.  Let us, this time, not let this good thing slip through our hands.  And let us, at long last, enact health care reform for all.”

December 22, 2009 at 11:29 pm Leave a comment

Yes, We Still Support Health Care Reform

We’ve decided, we can’t  afford to let the perfect interfere with the possibility of good health reform. There are millions of Americans waiting for insurance coverage and an economy waiting  for businesses to be relieved of health care’s extraordinary costs.  At best the Senate is likely to pass a bill that disappoints but, as of today, we support it.

As economist Paul Krugman says in today’s New York Times, “Pass the Bill, the current health care bill falls a long way short of ideal, but it is better than anything that seemed possible just a few years ago.”

So – today the Center for Medicare Advocacy sent the following letter to Senate health reform leaders:

Dear Senators Reid, Durbin, Dodd, and Baucus:

 The Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc. is a national, non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of older people and people with disabilities to ensure access to health care.  We thank you for your efforts to enact health insurance reform. 

 The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will provide access to health insurance for millions of Americans, provide subsidies to those with limited incomes and resources, improve access to preventive services, and limit discrimination in the offering of health insurance.  Additionally, the bill protects the integrity of the Medicare program by reducing overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans and by promoting delivery system reforms to encourage high quality, coordinated health care.  The bill further assists people with limited means by extending eligibility for Medicaid for the under 65 population.

Overall, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will move this country towards the goal of achieving universal access to health care.  We are pleased to support this legislation. 

Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc.

December 18, 2009 at 4:17 pm 1 comment

The Connecticut-Based, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Joins the Washington Post in Applauding our Senior Senator, Chris Dodd, and Apologizes for the Actions of Joe Lieberman, our Junior Senator, to Bar Real Health Reform.

The essay below is from the 12/15/2009 Washington Post:

The heroes of health-care reform

Right on the heels of Joe Lieberman trying to kill the bill because it had a Medicare buy-in proposal, Howard Dean is exhorting Democrats to kill the bill because it doesn’t have a Medicare buy-in proposal. Sigh.

So let this serve as an encomium to Ron Wyden, Tom Harkin, Chuck Schumer, Sherrod Brown, Chris Dodd and Jay Rockefeller, among many others. All of these senators could have been the 60th vote. All of them had issues they believe in and worked for. Chris Dodd built and passed a bill. Sherrod Brown whipped up liberal support for the public option. Chuck Schumer spent countless hours devising compromises and searching for new paths forward. Ron Wyden spent years crafting the Healthy Americans Act, getting a CBO score, pulling together co-sponsors, speaking to activists and industry groups and other legislators. Jay Rockefeller has spent decades on this issue and wasn’t even invited into the Gang of Six process.

But you know what? They’re all still there. Because in the end, this isn’t about them, and though their states and their pet issues might benefit if they tried to make it about them, the process, and thus the result, would be endangered. I’ve said before that the remarkable thing isn’t that Joe Lieberman acts the way he does but that so few join him. The legislative process is given a bad name by the showboats and grandstanders, but the only reason it functions at all is because the vast majority of the participants keep their role in perspective.

If this bill passes, it will not be because Lieberman was pacified. It will be because senators such as Rockefeller, Wyden, Schumer, Harkin, Brown and Dodd swallowed their pride and their passion and allowed him to be pacified. They are the heroes here, and beneath it all, their quiet determination made them the key players.

Photo credit: By Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press

December 16, 2009 at 6:38 pm Leave a comment

Private Medicare Plans Are Taking You to the Cleaners. Cut the Subsidies Now! And Don’t Repeat This Windfall in Health Care Reform.

New Report Highlights Medicare Advantage Insurers’ Higher Administrative Spending
Publications
Wednesday, 09 December 2009 11:51
Today Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak released a new report which found that 34 Medicare Advantage insurers expend significant sums on profits, marketing, and other corporate expenses.   Last year, the insurers spent an average of $1,450 per beneficiary on profits, marketing, and other corporate expenses, nearly ten times as much as traditional Medicare spent on administrative expenses per beneficiary.On average, Medicare Advantage insurers spent over 15% of premium revenue on profits, marketing, and other corporate expenses.  Two-thirds of the Medicare Advantage insurers surveyed by the Committee had a “medical loss ratio” – the percentage of premium revenues used to pay medical claims – below 85% during at least one of the four years examined.  In contrast, traditional Medicare spends 98% of its money on medical care.  If all Medicare Advantage plans had spent at least 85% of their premium dollars on medical care from 2005 to 2008, they would have spent an additional $3 billion on medical care for seniors.”Medicare plays a critically important role in insuring that millions of Americans receive the health care they need,” said Rep. Waxman.  “But as this report shows, Medicare Advantage insurers are squandering billions of dollars on overhead costs – in fact, they spend ten times the amount per beneficiary as traditional Medicare.  Our health care bill includes much needed reforms to the Medicare Advantage payment system.  There is no reason for Medicare to pay private insurers more than traditional Medicare pays in any community in the country.  That will insure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.””Medicare Advantage was never intended to be a program for insurance companies to pad their corporate expense accounts,” said Rep. Stupak.  “Seniors pay Medicare Advantage premiums with the expectation that the money will be used to provide critical medical care – not pay for marketing campaigns and executive bonuses.  The disparity between the percentage of premiums used to pay medical claims in traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage is unacceptable; our seniors deserve better.  This report is just the latest example of private insurance companies exploiting the Medicare Advantage system for their own gain.”At the request of Chairman Waxman and Subcommittee Chairman Stupak, the majority Committee staff analyzed premium revenues, medical claim payments, marketing costs, profits, and other data from 34 major Medicare Advantage insurers.

The report found:

  • From 2005 through 2008, the average Medicare Advantage insurer spent over 15% of premium revenue on profits, marketing, and other corporate expenses. Two-thirds of the Medicare Advantage insurers surveyed by the Committee had a medical loss ratio below 85% during at least one of the four years examined. Six of the insurers had medical loss ratios below 75% in one or more years. In comparison, traditional Medicare spends less than 1.5% on administrative expenses and over 98% on health care. In the aggregate, the Medicare Advantage insurers spent $1,450 per beneficiary in 2008 on profits, marketing, and other corporate expenses, nearly ten times as much as traditional Medicare spent on administrative expenses per beneficiary.
  • Requiring all Medicare Advantage insurers to have a medical loss ratio of 85% would provide billions of dollars in additional medical services to seniors. The total amount spent on profits, marketing, and other expenses by Medicare Advantage insurers over the last four years was $27 billion. The House health care reform bill requires Medicare Advantage plans to spend at least 85% of their total premium revenues on medical claims. If this threshold had been in effect from 2005 through 2008, the Medicare Advantage insurers would have spent an additional $3 billion on their beneficiaries’ medical care, enough to eliminate all copays for preventive care for all Medicare beneficiaries for ten years.
  • In 2007 and 2008, Medicare Advantage insurers with medical loss ratios lower than 85% paid their executives over $1.2 billion. In 2007, a company that had a medical loss ratio of 79% paid an executive over $35 million. The same company paid 16 more executives salaries and bonuses worth $1 million or more. Another company with a medical loss ratio of 79% paid more than $210 million in compensation to 260 executives.
  • Medicare Advantage insurers have spent millions on expensive retreats. In 2007, one company with a medical loss ratio of 83% spent $3.1 million for two events in Hawaii. In 2007, a company with a medical loss ratio of 84% spent $2.5 million on employees and agents at a retreat in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico and $1.4 million on an event in Rome, Italy. In 2008, a company with a medical loss ratio of 82% spent $1.5 million on a meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland and $1.8 million on a trip to Cancun, Mexico.

December 10, 2009 at 11:55 pm Leave a comment

ANSWER to Pop Quiz! Who Said This? About What?

As a spokesman for the AMA, Ronald Reagan said this about the dangers of passing Medicare:  “… behind it will come other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country.  Until one day, as Norman Thomas said, we will awake to find that we have socialism.  And if you don’t do this and if I don’t do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.” 

Ronald Reagan, our beloved Republican president,  said this as a spokesman against Medicare.  Now Republicans laud Medicare, say they are its champion, but say that health care reform must not  pass as it will lead to socialism and the demise of Medicare.  There is little new under the sun! 

Tell your senators to vote for health care reform – with a public option.  Like Medicare it is desperately needed and, if passed, it too will become a beloved institution. 

Someone, someday, will thank you for fighting for it and will praise your senators’ votes.

November 30, 2009 at 6:23 pm Leave a comment

Older Posts Newer Posts

Health Policy Expertise

We provide effective, innovative opportunities to impact federal Medicare and health care policies and legislation in order to advance fair access to Medicare and quality health care.

Judith A. Stein, Executive Director

Contact us by email
for a free consultation,
Or call at (202) 293-5760.
Se habla español
December 2025
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  

Feeds