Op/Ed: Stop cuts in insurance plan, Meehan says

President Barack Obama said in 2009 that his health care law will ensure that America’s seniors get the benefits they’ve been promised.

“Don’t pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut,” he said.

But the 900,000 Pennsylvania seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage insurance plans may learn how broken this promise is turning out to be.

Medicare Advantage is a public-private insurance program that combines the peace of mind of a government guarantee with private-sector innovation and efficiency. Many seniors, including 25,000 in Berks County, choose it over traditional Medicare because it gives them more control over the care they receive. Seniors in these programs often pay less for improved coverage.

Medicare Advantage helps seniors to better coordinate their care and put as much emphasis on keeping healthy as on treating them when they are ill. By helping to closely manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and keep seniors healthier, Medicare Advantage is advantageous to seniors’ quality of life and the hardworking taxpayers who fund the program.

But despite Medicare Advantage’s success and its popularity among seniors, it’s under attack. The president’s health care law cut $716 billion out of Medicare and in 2014, Medicare Advantage payments were cut by another 6.5 percent.

As a result 142 fewer insurance plans are available to the 13 million seniors on Medicare Advantage. Premiums for the remaining plans are rising, and benefit levels are falling. More than 526,000 seniors will have to change their insurance plan because of the cuts. Many seniors who have gotten to know and trust their doctor may have to find a new one.

Medicare Advantage may be at risk again as the administration considers another round of cuts on top of those already implemented and the Obamacare cuts that are being phased in.

“Those most hurt by the cuts are low-income seniors in rural areas without other options,” said former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin.

That’s because low-income seniors are more likely to choose Medicare Advantage over traditional Medicare. So, too, with black and Latino seniors, who will bear higher costs, dropped coverage and reduced benefits.

“Additional scheduled cuts will broaden the damage to Medicare Advantage,” Holtz-Eakin said.

And that will hurt Berks County seniors who rely on Medicare Advantage for their care.

We need to reform our health care spending responsibly, but gutting a successful, cost-effective program like Medicare Advantage is the wrong way to do it.

The administration has an opportunity to preserve seniors’ choice and flexibility in the health coverage they receive by protecting Medicare Advantage from further harmful cuts. It should take it.

* U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan is a Delaware County Republican who represents part of Berks County in Pennsylvania’s 7th US Congressional District.

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