I am a senior citizen. In a few months, I will have to switch from my health insurance (now costing $750 per month) to Medicare. I've done my research. I do not pretend to know much, if anything, about the proposed health care reform bills, and I don't believe much of anything that either political party, special interest group, or media news person tells me. The following is what I DO know:
1. There is Medicare, a social insurance program administered by the U. S. Government; there is Medicare with supplemental (private) insurance which pays for much of what Medicare does not; and there is Medicare Advantage.
2. Medicare Advantage, while endorsed by Medicare, is not Medicare. Claims are not paid through Medicare funds but instead are paid by private insurance companies. It is a program designed to compete with Medicare and costs the government 14 percent more per beneficiary than traditional Medicare.
3. The private insurance companies handling the Advantage plans are subsidized by the government, and nearly half of that funding is in turn paid to independent insurance sales people who then focus their efforts on signing up more clients. If you participate in the Advantage plans, you still must continue to have Medicare money deducted from your monthly Social Security income. Hmm. So I'm still paying into Medicare - and on top of that some of my tax money is going to private insurance companies whether I use them or not.
My understanding (which admittedly could be faulty) is that the government would like to stop paying private insurance companies for their Advantage plans - those companies whose "arrangements" with health care providers have become somewhat "questionable."
Did anyone besides me notice all the TV commercials targeting senior citizens' fear prior to the House passage of their version of health care reform? Did anyone else notice the small print below those commercials: "Paid for by America's Health Insurance Plans"
To all senior citizens I would like to say "Do your research; get informed; know who is trying to scare the bejeezus out of you - and why. And above all, demand from your political representatives detailed information regarding health care reform. Don't accept generalities, and don't believe one side or the other until you get all the facts." To all who are not seniors yet I would recommend you do some research. Your time is coming.
Finally, there are way too many commercials paid for by various senior citizen groups. (I wonder who really writes their ads.) To them I say, "You don't speak for me. Unless you can give me specific details and provable facts to support your claims, I refuse to listen to you. I don't know who is right and who is wrong. I do know I'm not getting all the facts. I have a pc and a mouse, and I know how to use them!"
Jeanne M. Schutz
Warsaw, via e-mail
Editor's Note: This letter was edited to conform more closely to the 500-word limit stated in our "Letters Policy".
