Article by Richard Kuehn

Pebble Beach, CA Medicare Cuts Remain Hot Topic : View From A Private Duty Caregiver Serving, Carmel, Carmel Valley, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gilroy, Gonzalez, Greenfield, Hollister, King City, Marina, Monterey, Morgan Hill, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, San Juan Bautista, Seaside And Soledad California

There was a front page story in USA Today called “5 Ways To Squeeze Medicare Costs” which is a very hot topic considering the congressional super committee which is looking for .5 trillion worth of deficit reductions. The political rhetoric will likely pick up, especially considering that the American Association for Retired Persons is launching a national ad campaign which will air on CBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and NBC to try and persuade them to leave Social Security and Medicare alone. “Seniors, who have average incomes of under ,000 want their elected leaders to cut waste and tax loopholes, not their hard-earned benefits,” their EVP Nancy LeaMond told a reporter. The USA article floated these five ideas:1. Target rich people. Polls have shown this may be the only way to garner public support given the weak economy and high unemployment rates. “I guess you go after rich people,” Robert Laszewski, a non-partisan health care consultant told the paper. “That’s where you’ve got the most ability to hurt someone who can take the hurt.” President Obama has proposed raising premiums for upper income beneficiaries and gradually bringing more people into that group. Eventually one in four seniors would pay more.2. Give beneficiaries skin in the game. Obama has recommended increasing beneficiary costs starting in 2017, with new beneficiaries facing higher deductibles for outpatient care and co-payments for home health care. Those buying Medigap insurance would face 30% higher premiums under the plan.3. Raise the eligibility age. Last summer, the President talked about the possibility of gradually raising Medicare’s eligibility age to 67, although he has since retreated on this plan. 4. Reduce providers profit margins. Hospitals already had to absorb 5 billion in reduced payments last year and face another billion under Obama’s plan. It’s hard to envision hospitals getting much sympathy, but what about the Doctors? I wrote on my blog about my former physician who got another job after getting hit by reduced reimbursements from insurance and higher costs to handle billing. Doctors used to be some of the most well respected and highly paid members of the community, but it’s tough for them to make a high income in private practice.5. Root out waste and inefficiency. Clearly, this is the best option. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) considers Medicare a high risk program prone to high rates of fraud, waste and abuse. It estimates that billion was lost through improper payments in 2010, about 10% of total costs.

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