Sep ‘11
14
Health Care Leadership Plays its Medicare Cards
The Healthcare Leadership Council is one of those “umbrella” organizations used by the power structure in the medical industrial complex to occasionally find common cause on health policy. Its CEO is an experienced DC hand and former lobbyist, Mary Grealy. But it’s run by the CEOs of the biggest industries like health insurance, drugs and devices, hospitals, big systems like Mayo/Cleveland, and the newer for-profit chains. These are organizations that President Obama enlisted to help pass his health reform legislation.
The convergence of the new A.C.A health reform law and Republican Repeal and Replace, plus bi-partisan entitlement reform and a terrible economy, has pressed the HLC to recommend Medicare reform specifics that go beyond the specifics of the A.C.A. which was passed only by Democrats. Their recommendations endorse redesign of the basic benefits of Medicare with increases in beneficiary choice and cost sharing. They endorse changes in Part C Medicare Advantage to increase the pace of privatization of the program ala Paul Ryan (R-WI) via a federal Medicare-only health insurance exchange.
Then they recommend gradually changing the eligibility for Medicare by raising the age from 65 to 67 and requiring beneficiaries earning $150,000 a year or more to pay their own premiums for Part B and D (mainly physicians and drugs) coverage. HLC says it will save $410 billion over 10 years. I understand the full pay premiums for high income earners, but not why it would save much money. The wealthy will find other coverage less expensive than Medicare and not sign up until they are much older and will increase the costs to the pool with poor health.
Moving the age to qualify for Medicare beyond 65 is a bad idea. You knock out people who cannot afford to get coverage elsewhere. Most health economists would move the date up towards age 55 and require a buy-in premium adjusted by income to provide access for the growing under-65 population which has been priced out of the commercial market by job loss or insurance loss. Read recommendations
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