November is National Caregivers Month. We are honoring the devoted family members who take care of loved ones in the home. They selflessly give care to family and to loved ones so that the ill and the aging person can remain in the home environment. We are honoring the care giver who daily with love cares for the needy people. Many of the caregivers are working members of society, raising a family and giving care to loved ones.
Beginning January, 2014, the Obama Administration made severe cuts that will reduce the medical benefits that seniors receive under the Medicare Home Health services by 14% between the years 2014 and 2017. These cuts shift billions of dollars from Medicare to Obamacare. These
cuts in many instances impact the decision of whether the senior can receive quality health care in the home or remain in their homes. These cuts will directly impact the family health care giver. Many of the cuts made will impact seniors living in rural areas. The money taken from the American seniors will be used for Obamacare. The cuts to home health for our elders will result in lower wages for the caregiver. Less approved care will be paid. It will mean more money out of the pocket of the seniors who are patients. It is predicted that 40 % of Home Health Agencies will face financial hardships. Seniors, make your voices heard loud and clear.
Let’s mix a few FACTS into the discussion! First: “It’s worth noting that there’s one area these cuts don’t touch: Medicare benefits. The Affordable Care Act rolls back payment rates for hospitals and insurers. It does not, however, change the basket of benefits that Medicare patients have access to.”There is reduction in spending to Medicare outlays, but it’s fueled by finding savings in the program, a move that Republicans actually supported in the Ryan budget. What? Savings in the Budget that Republicans also support? Gee, Debra, check your story again.
Even AARP says that “Nothing in this act shall result in a reduction of guaranteed benefits” under Medicare. and that “The good news for Medicare recipients is new protections and benefits in the health law that strengthen Medicare and give more coverage,” says Nancy LeaMond, executive vice president of AARP’s state and national group.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, after previously proposing in February a 1.9 percent cut to private plans said a few weeks ago that government payments to insurers in the Medicare Advantage program will increase .4 percent on average in 2015. The increase, CMS said, is slightly higher than what insurers had requested.Medicare Advantage cuts required by the ACA started in 2012, and despite some dire predictions, enrollment in the program increased every year since the ACA was signed in 2010 America’s Health Insurance Plans, the nation’s largest industry group representing health insurers, ran an aggressive lobbying effort last year that helped turn a proposed 2.3 percent cut for 2014 Medicare Advantage plans into a 3.3 percent raise.
HMMMM, so “despite dire predictions like the one made in this story, it just isn’t true!