Tom Price Plans To Devastate Medicare

 

Tom Price, Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, has a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act that will absolutely devastate Medicare and do tremendous harm to seniors and the disabled.

Price’s plan will:

• Potentially render Medicare immediately insolvent by eliminating the Medicare Health Insurance (HI) tax increases on high income earners.
• Eliminate preventative screenings
• Eliminate the closing of the Medicare Part D “Donut Hole” in 2020
• Preempt state laws that limit the amount doctors and hospitals can charge for services.
• “Allow” participants to put their own money into Medical Savings Accounts.
• Inevitably result in large, across the board premium increases for all participants.

After careful examination, Price’s plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act primarily benefits the very wealthy and leaves working and middle class folks paying the bill. What it does to the poor and the working poor is put them at the mercy of State Legislatures. Price’s plan is repeal and replace with nothing, except tax cuts for the richest 1%.

A more detail summary of Price’s plan can be found here.

Things Donald Trump does not Know: Medicare Gets Touched by Repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

During the campaign, Donald Trump promised not to touch Medicare and Social Security. Since the election he and his surrogates have reiterated this position.

During the campaign, Donald Trump promised not to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Since the election he and his surrogates have reiterated this position.

Holding to both of these promise is not possible. The Affordable Care Act strengthened Medicare in a number of ways. Repealing the Affordable Care Act will touch Medicare.

Yet, in interview after interview, Donald Trump or one of his surrogates is allowed to restate both of these promises as if it is possible to keep them both. The American people desperately need for someone in the media to ask Donald Trump some “How” questions.

• How are you going to repeal the Affordable Care Act and not touch Medicare when the Affordable Care Act extends the solvency of the Medicare Part A Hospital Trust Fund by 14 years, from 2016 to 2030?
• How are you going to repeal the Affordable Care Act and not touch Medicare when the Affordable Care Act caused Part B premiums and deductibles to stabilize or decrease from 2012 to 2015?
• How are you going to repeal the Affordable Care Act and not touch Medicare when the Affordable Care Act provides Medicare participants with an annual wellness visit to the Doctor at no cost?
• How are you going to repeal the Affordable Care Act and not touch Medicare when the Affordable Care Act provides Medicare participants with annual preventative screenings at no cost?
• How are you going to repeal the Affordable Care Act and not touch Medicare when the Affordable Care Act has the Medicare Part D “Donut Hole” on pace to be closed by 2020?

Someone needs to tell Donald Trump that repealing the Affordable Care Act will touch Medicare. If, for some reason he will not listen or will not comprehend that reality, someone needs to let the American people know that it is impossible for him to keep both of his promises.

(The above questions were based on a post from the National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare).

Somebody Tell Donald Trump that Repealing ACA is “Touching Medicare” #ProtectOurCare #HandsOffMedicare #OurFirstStand

Donald Trump promised during the campaign not to touch Medicare. Reince Priebus repeated that position today.

While Republicans move forward with efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, President-elect Donald Trump has no plans to cut Medicare or Social Security, incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said today on “This Week.”

““That’s his position and that’s the position that he’s going to be taking. There are no plans in President-elect Trump’s policies moving forward to touch Medicare and Social Security,” Priebus told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.

The problem is that he also said Donald Trump wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act.  Do Mr. Priebus and Mr. Trump know that the ACA extended Medicare’s solvency to 2028? Do they know that the ACA will close the Medicare “Donut Hole” in 2020? Do they know that ACA provides preventative screenings to Medicare participants? Obviously, they do not or they would not be so eager to repeal the ACA. If they really care about Medicare they would not want to repeal ACA because repealing ACA touches Medicare and it touches it in a bad way.

We need to let @Reince  and @realDonaldTrump know that ACA cannot be repealed without touching Medicare. More importantly we need to let them know that we know ACA cannot be repealed without touching Medicare.

 

Get Ready! #MedicareMonday comes on Tuesday This Week

 

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but bends toward justice.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

However you may choose to observe the holiday dedicated to the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we hope that your observing it will renew in you a passion and dedication to speaking up for those who need your voice. Families, seniors, the disabled, women, children and the poor among us will all suffer if the Republican Congress fails to offer a meaningful replacement for the Affordable Care Act. They need you and our country needs for you to be ready to call on Tuesday, January 17,2017. Call, Write and communicate in every way possible to Congress that we will not go back to health insurance the way it was before the ACA. The only acceptable replacement is a better replacement! To be clear, better does not mean better for the minute handful of Americans that will benefit from the repeal of ACA.

• Better means better for the millions of working class Americans who need quality health care at an affordable price.
• Better means better for the millions of retired Americans who worked all their lives expecting the dignity and security that Medicare has always provided.
• Better means better for young families who do not deserve to have pregnancy treated as a preexisting condition.
• Better means better for children born into families that are struggling to make ends meet.
• Better means better for women who should not be penalized financially when they purchase health insurance.

Here are some ideas for when you call on Tuesday:

1. 90% of Americans have health insurance coverage under ACA. Tell your Congress member you expect the new plan to cover at least that many, preferably more.
2. Preexisting conditions cannot keep someone from being covered under ACA. Tell your Congress member you expect preexisting conditions to be covered under the new plan.
3. Adult children can stay on their parents plan until age 26 under ACA. Tell your member of Congress you want young adults to be able to stay on their parent’s coverage under the new plan.
4. Under ACA, many low-income Americans were given assistance to purchase health insurance. Tell your member of Congress you want the new plan to cover low-income Americans.
5. Under ACA, Medicare was solvent until 2028. Tell your member of Congress that you expect Medicare to be solvent at least until 2028, preferably longer, under the new plan.
6. Tell your member of Congress you expect Medicare to remain a defined benefit plan. No vouchers, no premium supports, no privatization.
7. Under ACA, the Medicare “Donut Hole” is on schedule to close in 2020. Tell your member of congress you expect the new plan to close the “Donut Hole.”

There are certainly other issues that could be raised during call. This list is not meant to limit you, but to help you as you advocate for health care in America. Feel free to add your suggesting for other talking points in the comments. This list will be updated as the debate continues.

Health Care Talking Points: Call Congress & #ProtectOurCare

We expect many health care advocacy groups to publish scripts and list of talking points for calling Congress in the days ahead. We will gladly share those as we see them. The main thing is for Americans to call and write Congress relentlessly until the final vote is taken on whatever is going replace the ACA.

Issues you might want to mention:

1. 90% of Americans have health insurance coverage under ACA. Tell your Congress member you expect the new plan to cover at least that many, preferably more.
2. Preexisting conditions cannot keep someone from being covered under ACA. Tell your Congress member you expect preexisting conditions to be covered under the new plan.
3. Adult children can stay on their parents plan until age 26 under ACA. Tell your member of Congress you want young adults to be able to stay on their parent’s coverage under the new plan.
4. Under ACA, many low-income Americans were given assistance to purchase health insurance. Tell your member of Congress you want the new plan to cover low-income Americans.
5. Under ACA, Medicare was solvent until 2028. Tell your member of Congress that you expect Medicare to be solvent at least until 2028, preferably longer, under the new plan.
6. Tell your member of Congress you expect Medicare to remain a defined benefit plan. No vouchers, no premium supports, no privatization.
7. Under ACA, the Medicare “Donut Hole” is on schedule to close in 2020. Tell your member of congress you expect the new plan to close the “Donut Hole.”

There are certainly other issues that could be raised during call. This list is not meant to limit you, but to help you as you advocate for health care in America. Feel free to add your suggesting for other talking points in the comments. This list will be updated as the debate continues.

Statement of Retiree Leader Richard Fiesta on the House Vote to Begin the Process of Repealing the Affordable Care Act

The following statement was issued by Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, regarding the U.S. House vote to approve the 2017 budget resolution that instructs committees to write legislation repealing the Affordable Care Act. “With today’s vote, 227 members of the House of Representatives started the process of eliminating many valuable…

via Statement of Retiree Leader Richard Fiesta on the House Vote to Begin the Process of Repealing the Affordable Care Act — Retired Americans

Why Health Care? Republicans, is that your Best Idea?

Why Health Care? Republicans are in complete control of our government and they believe the best thing they can do for us is repeal the Affordable Care Act. Really? The whole first week of the 115th Congress has been somewhat mind-boggling. Of all the issues confronting our nation and our world, The GOP chooses health care.

Repealing the ACA will hurt Medicare and seniors. Repealing it will hurt the poor and needy. Repealing it will hurt families. Repealing it will hurt America.

Repealing it will hurt the economy and cost us jobs.

Not only will repealing the ACA have a negative impact on the everyday lives of ordinary Americans. Repealing ACA will come at taxpayer expense as the Republican controlled Congress takes our nation deeper in debt to achieve their goal. They know repealing it will increase our debt so they have instituted a ban on recording devices in the House to keep it hidden. State budgets will also be impacted in a negative way.

Why? Why would the Republicans be so enthusiastic about inflicting so hurt on America and her people? One might assume that it has something to with GOP’s dislike of President Obama and the “promises” that were made during the campaign. Drawing such a conclusion would make sense to a certain degree. The disdain that Republicans feel for President Obama is well known and the disinformation that Republicans have churned out since before the ACA’s passage has certainly resulted in many Americans being unaware of the good that it would do and has done for our country.

However, the answer to why the 115th Congress spent week 1 dismantling America’s health care is not primarily a matter simmering political feuds or campaign promises. No, it is much simpler than that. Given all the people who stand to lose if the ACA is repealed, who stands to gain?

That’s right, about 400 high wage earners will reap an estimated 2.8 billion dollars a year in tax cuts if the ACA is repealed.

First, it would eliminate two Medicare taxes — the additional Hospital Insurance tax and the Medicare tax on unearned income — that both fall only on high-income filers, thereby cutting taxes substantially for those at the top.

Notice that? Repealing ACA is going to hurt Medicare. However, the hurt does not stop with retirees. Repealing ACA will not cut any taxes in 160 million households earning less than $200,000 a year. It gets worse. 7 million low and middle income families will have taxes raised an average of $4,800 when they lose the stipends the ACA provided to help them purchase insurance.

Republicans have complete control of our Government and this is the thing they most want to do to us.  Namely, hurt most all of us so that a minute segment of our population can benefit. They do it, presumably, to make America Great Again. But we know what happens when the wealthy do not pay their fair share of taxes. We know that nothing trickles down and the economy falters. A mere eight years ago, we watched President Bush’s second term end with the economy in ruins. Bush’s presidency was marked by the wealthy paying taxes at a historically low rate. Those same eight years saw some of the smallest private sector job growth in our history. Early indications are that the Republicans intend to put us through another round of building an economy that works for the wealthy and leaves working class people paying the bill.

We should not wait 8 years to make a change this time around. Eight Republican Senators will be up for reelection in 2018. Every member of the House of Representatives will have to stand for reelection. If working people in America unite, we can be an unstoppable political force.

 

 

 

 

Election 2018: 8 Republican Senators Who Voted Against Medicare, Social Security & Medicaid Are Running For Reelection

8 of these Republican Senators are running for reelection in 2018. They are:

Barrasso, John – (R – WY)	Class I
307 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-6441
Contact: www.barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form

Corker, Bob – (R – TN)	Class I
425 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3344
Contact: www.corker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/emailme

Cruz, Ted – (R – TX)	Class I
404 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-5922
Contact: www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=email_senator

Fischer, Deb – (R – NE)	Class I
454 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-6551
Contact: www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact

Flake, Jeff – (R – AZ)	Class I
413 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4521
Contact: www.flake.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-jeff

Hatch, Orrin G. – (R – UT)	Class I
104 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-5251
Contact: www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact?p=Email-Orrin

Heller, Dean – (R – NV)	Class I
324 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-6244
Contact: www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form

Wicker, Roger F. – (R – MS)	Class I
555 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-6253
Contact: www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact

Senator Heller voted once to protect Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid and once not to protect. The rest of them voted twice not to protect Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid.