Health Reform and Medicare

Our experts are often featured in news stories about health reform. Watch Medicare Rights Center President Joe Baker on C-SPAN's Washington Journal:

The goals of health reform are:

To provide quality health care coverage to as many citizens and legal residents as possible; and
To fix our system so that it will better control the ever-rising costs of health care.

Because Medicare is such a large part of the American health care system, much of the debate and discussion have focused on Medicare-related issues. Many of these issues are of vital importance to people with Medicare—from how long the Medicare trust fund will last to the coverage gap in Medicare Part D, from ensuring access to doctors to improving the quality of care. Questions and claims of competing interests about whether reform will help or hurt Medicare continue to appear in the papers, on the airwaves, and on the web. We here at the Medicare Rights Center have been involved every step of the way, and we continue to work with Congress and with other advocates to advance the interests of the people we serve.

If you would like to learn more about health reform and Medicare and our position on these issues, we invite you to read our fact sheets and newsletters, as well as news stories featuring our experts. We also invite you to share your opinion about how you think health reform will affect you.

NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
August 10, 2009

NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
September 28, 2009

Dr. Nancy
October 5, 2009

Congressional Connector TV
October 27, 2009

Publications on the Issues

More news stories featuring our experts:

Taking Questions on Medicare

The New York Times, July 8, 2010

Courtesy of the Medicare Rights Center Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center, is taking reader questions on Medicare. Read entire story.

Avoid Medicare Doughnut Hole Rebate Check Scams

Consumer Reports, June 18, 2010, by Anthony Giorgianni

As the first rebate checks go out to help those affected by the Medicare prescription drug coverage �doughnut hole,� recipients are being told to be on guard against scammers. Several state attorneys general have warned about a series of scams related to the tax-free, $250 rebate checks, the first wave which have recently been mailed. Read entire story.

Relief on Way for Elderly in Medicare�s �Doughnut Hole�

The Providence Journal, June 15, 2010, by Neil Downing

When Dorothy Plante had spent a certain amount last year for prescription drugs, her prescription drug insurance coverage suddenly stopped. In response, she stopped taking two prescriptions for a time � �the two most expensive ones,� she said � until her coverage kicked in again. Read entire story.

What Does Health Reform Mean for Women on Medicare?

Raising Women's Voices, June 7, 2010, by Lois Uttley

That's a common question that Raising Women's Voices coordinators are encountering as we present community forums around the nation on what is in the new health reform law, formally known as the Affordable Care Act. Apparently, we are not the only ones getting this question! Read entire story.

Changes to Medicare Advantage

The Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2010, by Anne Tergesen

Our recent column about the impact of new health-care legislation on Medicare prompted many readers to ask about the specific effects on Medicare Advantage programs, which currently cover about a quarter of Medicare recipients. With Medicare, individuals must choose one of two paths: original fee-for-service Medicare, or a federally subsidized private Medicare Advantage plan, which typically operates like a health-maintenance or preferred-provider organization. Read entire story.

Adult Children Get Health Coverage Extended, but Watch the Tans

The Oregonian, May 8, 2010, by Brent Hunsberger

What do college-age kids, adopting parents, Medicare recipients and tanning-bed heads have in common? They all stand to be affected soon by the health care overhaul -- mostly for the better. Read entire story.

US Healthcare: Reforms Get Started with Small but Certain Steps

Financial Times, May 4, 2010, by Anna Fifield

President Barack Obama might have achieved a political milestone with his overhaul of the US�s inefficient healthcare system, but it will be years before the practical effects are felt. For all the controversy that the reform effort generated in Washington � where protesters rallied against a �government takeover of healthcare� and labelled Mr Obama a �socialist� � relatively little will change immediately. Read entire story.

How Your Health Insurance Will Change

SmartMoney, April 26, 2010, by Lisa Scherzer

When President Obama signed health reform into law last month, perhaps the biggest sigh of relief was heard from people without insurance. After all, one of the primary goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was to provide affordable health coverage to those lacking it. With the new law, 32 million additional Americans will obtain coverage by 2019, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Read entire story.

Doctors Hear Many Questions About Health Law

The New York Times, April 18, 2010, by John Leland

Dr. Roger W. Evans, a cardiologist in Wichita, Kan., is used to answering patients� questions about their hearts. But lately, he said, he has spent half his time answering a succession of different questions � about the health care law. Read entire story.

Online Resources for Information on Health-care Reform

Washington Post, April 6, 2010, by Francesca Lunzer Kritz

The ink was hardly dry on the health-care overhaul law when foundations, industry groups and consumer advocates began putting together guides to the new rules. Here are some Web sites worth keeping an eye on. Read entire story.

Health Care Reform and Medicare

Minnesota Public Radio, April 2, 2010, Midmorning with Kerri Miller

Some of the most heated rhetoric in the battle over health care reform revolved around the impact on Medicare and seniors. Now that the health care reform bill is law, Midmorning looks at what seniors can expect. Listen to the program below.

Health Care Reform: What You Should Do To Prepare Now

CBS MoneyWatch, March 30, 2010, by Lisa Collier Cool

Now that the health care overhaul is law, when will you start to see a difference? Some changes kick in immediately, but the rest trickle out over the next few years, with a few provisions not taking hold until the end of the decade. While you�re probably aware of some of the bill�s major changes, we�ve sorted through the nitty gritty details to help you start planning. Here�s a look at some of the key measures that you can � and should � prepare for in the coming months and beyond. Read entire story.

Medicare Recipients Likely To See Steady Drop in Prescription Costs

The Star-Ledger, March 29, 2010, by Susan Todd

The health care reform package provided a quick fix for hundreds of thousands of senior citizens who struggle to afford their prescription medicines each year. The sticky reimbursement problem, created by Medicare, Part D in 2006, became known as the "doughnut hole" soon after the Part D drug benefit went into effect. Read entire story.

Online Healthcare Reform Resources

Los Angeles Times, March 29, 2010, by Francesca Lunzer Kritz

Now that the overhaul of the nation's health insurance system has become a reality, even people who do have health insurance may want to be fluent in its specifics � to know what to expect, and when. Some changes take effect in a few months, some in a few years. Read entire story.

[Editor's note: This article links to the Medicare Rights Center's fact sheet on President Obama's health reform plan. An updated fact sheet on the final health reform package can be found here.]

New Rules on Generics Seen As Mixed Blessing

San Francisco Chronicle, March 28, 2010, by Victoria Colliver

A small piece of the new health care law provides a way for drug manufacturers to eventually create generic versions of brand-name biologic drugs. But some say the provision that allows biotechnology companies to hold on to their data exclusively for 12 years before the information becomes available to others amounts to a sweetheart deal for the industry. Read entire story.

System Overhaul: What It Means to Local Seniors

The Providence Journal, March 28, 2010, by Richard Salit

So what does the overhaul of the national health-care system mean if you�re a senior? That�s a vital question in Rhode Island, with a higher than average population over 65 and 173,831 on Medicare. Read entire story.

AARP Defends Health Care Legislation Despite Medicare Cuts

The Palm Beach Post, March 25, 2010, by Stacey Singer

Stung by charges that it had endorsed a half-trillion worth of benefit cuts for seniors, AARP went on the offensive today, extolling the merits of health reform to both its members on Medicare and those still too young to qualify. Read entire story.

Medicare Changes Misrepresented, Advocates Say

Chattanooga Times Free Press, March 24, 2010, by Emily Bregel

Many seniors and doctors who treat Medicare patients have been shaken up by news that health care reform efforts are largely funded by about $455 billion worth of projected savings in the government health insurance program for the elderly. Enrollees fear that the changes, to be implemented over 10 years, could chip away at their benefits and worry that lower payments will force providers to stop taking new Medicare patients. Read entire story.

Time To Stop Scaring Grandma About Health Reform

RetirementRevised.com, March 23, 2010, by Mark Miller

I�m trying to remember when it was that Republicans became such big champions of Medicare. Certainly not in 1965, when the GOP joined the American Medical Association in fighting enactment of the program. Read entire story.

What Health Reform Means for Your Retirement

MarketWatch, March 23, 2010, by Kristin Gerencher

How will the new health-care reform law signed by President Obama this week affect older Americans and those planning for their retirement years? There are three main ways. Read entire story.

Readers' Questions on the Health Care Overhaul

The New York Times, March 22, 2010

The landmark health care overhaul passed by the House late Sunday will provide medical coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and will have an impact on nearly everyone who already has insurance. While the measure, elements of which now head to the Senate for reconciliation proceedings, will vastly broaden coverage, it also contains a number of new rules, new costs and other changes. Read entire story.

Texas Doctors Group Against Health Bill, Splits With AMA

Austin American-Statesman, March 22, 2010, by Mary Ann Roser

The state�s largest doctors� group, the Texas Medical Association, has announced it is opposed to the federal health care bill, a split with its larger affiliate. The TMA, which has been on the fence about the proposed health care legislation, issued a statement late last night that said it is against the bill the House passed. Read entire story.

More on What the Health Care Overhaul Means for You

The New York Times, March 22, 2010, by Tara Siegel Bernard

Now that the House has passed legislation to overhaul the health care system, you may be wondering what it all means for you. Read entire story.

Last-ditch Effort Carries High Stakes for Florida Patients

The Palm Beach Post, February 22, 2010, by Stacey Singer

Few states have as much at stake in the health care fight as Florida, a state where one in five residents lacks any health coverage, where what coverage is available for the poor is breaking the bank, and where a large percentage of people � seniors � have government-provided health care that they're keen to protect. On the day President Obama released his health care proposal, the president of the Florida Hospital Association pleaded for an end to the congressional impasse. Read entire story.

Democrats Vow to Close Medicare 'Doughnut Hole'

Associated Press, December 17, 2009, by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

It's an annual ordeal for many seniors living on a budget. Medicare's coverage gap for prescription drugs -- $3,610 next year -- has steadily gotten bigger since the benefit's inception. But if Democrats have their way on health care overhaul, the dreaded "doughnut hole" will shrink by $500 right away and go away altogether by 2019. Read entire story.

Medicare Groups Rebut McCain Measure

The New York Times Prescriptions Blog, December 2, 2009

Two consumer advocacy groups that focus on Medicare beneficiaries issued a joint statement Wednesday, criticizing the amendment to the Senate health care bill offered by Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona. Read entire story.

The Disabled and the Doctors

Columbia Journalism Review, November 9, 2009, by Trudy Lieberman

As members of Congress ticked off for the home crowds the general achievements of their narrowly passed bill Saturday, and advocates for the elderly praised the goodies for Medicare beneficiaries, nobody mentioned that one important fix which would have helped some two million people was still missing. That was ending the two-year Medicare waiting period for people with disabilities�a proposal that some pols, including Sen. Max Baucus, seemed to advocate a year ago, when everything seemed possible. Read entire story.

House Poised to Make Health Care History

The Oregonian, November 6, 2009, by The Oregonian Editorial Board

Sometime within the next few days, and perhaps even as soon as Saturday, the U.S. House is destined to make history. Representatives will do it by voting on America's first major health care reform since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid 44 years ago. Read entire story.

Medicare Fee Cuts Will Test Doctors' Patience with Congress

McClatchy Newspapers, October 21, 2009, by David Lightman

Doctors' Medicare fees would be cut 21 percent next year unless some change is approved, and quickly, but Senators sent a strong signal Wednesday that they're reluctant to spend billions on a long-term solution. Read entire story.

Hidden Costs of Medicare Advantage

The Washington Post, October 15, 2009, by Philip Rucker

Patrick Higney, 66, doesn't want to give up the freebies that come with his zero-premium Medicare Advantage plan: free aspirin and free Band-Aids, a free blood pressure machine and a free ear thermometer. [...] The trouble is, the extra benefits are not exactly free; they are subsidized by the government. And some of the plans pass their costs on to seniors, who pay higher co-pays and additional fees to get care. Read entire story.

On Health Care Reform, Listen to Joe Baker

The Oregonian, September 9, 2009, by Doug Bates

If health reform legislation pending in the U.S. House of Representatives becomes law, people with Medicare stand to benefit from improved coverage of prescription drugs and preventive services. Says who? None other than Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center, the nation's preeminent advocacy group for people on Medicare. Read entire story.