Asclepios
No Time to Quit
January 28, 2010 • Volume 10, Issue 4
Congress is closer to passing comprehensive health care reform than at any time in the last century.
We arrived at this point despite an unprecedented campaign of lies and misinformation designed to derail the reform effort. Older adults who rely on Medicare for their health care in particular have been the subject of scare tactics.
These distortions have drowned out the good news of the real improvements to Medicare that will happen only if Congress passes health reform.
- Health reform will close the coverage gap in the Medicare drug benefit, lowering out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs.
- Health reform will eliminate Medicare copayments for preventive services and provide 100 percent coverage for an annual check-up.
- Health reform will pay hospitals, specialists and primary care doctors to coordinate the care they deliver.
Congress needs to hear that people with Medicare want these reforms enacted in a comprehensive health care bill. Please write your senators and representatives today.
Medical Record
“Older adults and people with disabilities in particular continue to face major obstacles in getting the medical care they need. Prescription drugs remain unaffordable to many, preventive services are underutilized and medical care from hospitals and specialists is often uncoordinated and wasteful. Passage of the health reform legislation now before Congress will help on all three counts.
“Health reform legislation holds the promise of closing the coverage gap, or ‘doughnut hole,’ in Medicare drug coverage, which forces people with Medicare to pay the full price for their medicines. The health care bills would eliminate copayments for preventive services and provide coverage for an annual health risk assessment to help manage chronic conditions. Both the House and Senate bills would provide incentives for specialists and primary care doctors to coordinate care and for hospitals to improve care after discharge and prevent readmissions. We call on President Obama and members of Congress from both parties to pass comprehensive health care reform.” (Statement by Medicare Rights Center President Joe Baker, January 2010)
“The approach we’ve taken would protect every American from the worst practices of the insurance industry. It would give small businesses and uninsured Americans a chance to choose an affordable health care plan in a competitive market. It would require every insurance plan to cover preventive care. Our approach would preserve the right of Americans who have insurance to keep their doctor and their plan. It would reduce costs and premiums for millions of families and businesses.” (State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama, January 2010)
Learn More About Health Reform and Medicare
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The Medicare Rights Center is now on Twitter. Follow us at www.twitter.com/medicarerights.
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Medicare Part D Appeals Help for Advocates Is Here!
Medicare Rights Center’s new Medicare Part D Appeals: An advocate’s manual to navigating the Medicare private drug plan appeals process offers an easy-to-understand, comprehensive overview of the entire appeals process, including real-life case examples, a glossary of important appeals terms, a sample protocol for advocates, and links to important resources.
Register for a FREE copy of this great resource.
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Medicare Part D Monitoring Project
The Medicare Rights Center would like to hear about your experience, or that of someone you know, enrolled in a private drug plan. With information about what the issues are with Medicare Part D, we will be able to demand that those problems be fixed.
Submit your story at http://www.medicarerights.org/issues-actions/tell-your-story.php.
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The Louder Our Voice, the Stronger Our Message
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Asclepios—named for the Greek and Roman god of medicine who, acclaimed for his healing abilities, was at one point the most worshipped god in Greece—is a weekly e-newsletter designed to keep you up-to-date with Medicare program and policy issues, and advance advocacy strategies to address them. Please help build awareness of key Medicare consumer issues by forwarding this action alert to your friends and encouraging them to subscribe today.
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The Medicare Rights Center is a national, nonprofit consumer service organization that works to ensure access to affordable health care for older adults and people with disabilities through counseling and advocacy, educational programs and public policy initiatives.
Visit our online subscription form to sign up for Asclepios at http://www.medicarerights.org/about-mrc/newsletter-signup.php.
Get answers to your Medicare questions from Medicare Interactive at http://www.medicareinteractive.org.
The Medicare Rights Center is on Twitter. Follow us at www.twitter.com/medicarerights.