Medicare is a public health insurance program that frequently gets mentioned by politicians. Often, this program is used as a way to gain votes, or to prevent their opponent from getting votes. Surprisingly, the new plan to revamp Medicare is a bipartisan one. Here are a few things that you should know about it.
In the past few years, there have been some significant changes to the Medicare program. There has been efforts made to close the infamous “doughnut hole”, and to help the seniors who fall into it. Other changes include Medicare coverage for screening for STD’s, coverage for obesity screening and counseling, and efforts to reduce waste and cut down on fraud.
A new plan that would overhaul Medicare has been unveiled. Surprisingly, it is a bipartisan plan. In other words, this plan has been created, and agreed upon, by representatives who are from “both sides of the aisle”.
The plan was unveiled by Senator Ron Wyden, of Oregon, who is a Democrat, and Representative Paul D. Ryan, of Wisconsin, who is a Republican. This could make it much more difficult for politicians from either political party to use Medicare as a token that could improve the number of votes that are cast for candidates from their party.
There are a few things that consumers should know about this new plan. The plan will change the way Medicare is funded. Right now, the amount of money that the federal government puts into the program can be described as “open ended”. The plan would create a fixed federal contribution to the cost of coverage for each Medicare beneficiary.
The plan proposes “premium support”. This mean that the Medicare program would be used to subsidize the premiums that are charged by private insurance companies that care for Medicare beneficiaries. It would put those private insurers into a contract with the government, (in regards to the Medicare plans they offer).
There will be an establishment of an insurance exchange specifically for Medicare beneficiaries. Private insurance plans would have to compete with the traditional Medicare program for customers. The private plans would be required to offer at least the same benefits as the traditional Medicare program does. The amount of money that the federal government contributes to Medicare would be based on the second least expensive option in the Medicare exchange.
The Medicare program would have it’s growth capped. Spending would not be allowed to increase more than the growth of the economy (plus one percentage point). To help the federal government stay under that limit, there will be cuts to the payments to health care providers and suppliers, (who are seen as responsible for the current overspending). Medicare recipients who are high-income could end up paying more for their premiums in the future.
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