Information for Seniors on Healthcare Reform

Don’t Get Tricked! Healthcare Reform for Seniors Now!

Health care reform will protect the Medicare benefits you’ve been promised, the ability to choose the doctor you want and coverage for prescription drugs at a price you can afford.  The most important thing to remember is that healthcare reform will not cut any guaranteed Medicare services such as doctor visits, hospital care or rehabilitation services. In fact, healthcare reform will improve Medicare in several important ways:

To Keep Medicare Strong for the Future – Congress needs to take steps to ensure that Medicare will be there when the baby boomers retire.  SEIU, AARP, the Alliance for Retired Americans and AFSCME are fighting to prevent waste from driving up your health care costs:

• Eliminating subsidies to private insurance companies to stabilize costs for Medicare.
• Reducing overpayments to providers and cutting out duplicative paperwork and tests.
• Cracking down on those who fraudulently bill Medicare.
• Preventing dangerous hospital readmissions by providing follow-up care that will help seniors safely transition home after a hospital stay.

To Keep Doctors in the System – If Congress does not act on health care this year, Medicare payments to doctors will be cut by 21% and many will stop serving Medicare beneficiaries.

To Reduce Costs and Out-of-Pocket Spending – Medicare premiums doubled over the past 8 years and will double again in the next 8 years if we don’t slow the rate of spending growth.  Health reform can do this by reducing fraud and abuse, reducing wasteful spending, and by limiting subsidies to insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and trimming future increases to hospitals and rehab providers.

Protecting Medicare

Medicare is our nation’s promise that no one will be left to struggle with medical bills after a lifetime of hard work. It is a standard by which we judge the moral character of our nation and it is a standard for how we provide access to healthcare for other segments of society.  Medicare works for seniors. Healthcare reform will keep it that way.

What You Can Do?

·         Tell Your Story. Call Congress and tell them you are a senior and you support healthcare reform (800-603-7348).

·         Tell Friends and Family.  Talk to at least two friends and relatives who are seniors about healthcare reform and get them to call Congress as well.