Cutting the Medicare Budget

In an article found from The Chicago Tribune, cost cuts on Medicare, a popular health care coverage plan for senior citizens, is discussed. “Will health care overhaul weaken the safety net for seniors, or help heal Medicare?” informs the readers that the plans to cut “hundreds of billions from the Medicare budget over the next 10 years” and that “proposed cuts to hospitals, nursing homes and other providers are bigger than any Congress has imposed since the late 1990s” (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2009). The money that would be saved from cutting $218 billion from the Medicare budget and hospitals and nursing homes would go towards the younger generation. Though this seems very appealing to myself and other people in the ‘younger generation’ category, one can’t be but curious and a little nervous as to how this will affect all the senior citizens. With the budget cuts, most likely they will save money on their monthly premiums because the private plan costs will be cheaper, but they could lose benefits if they are under Medicare Advantage, which deals with seniors who are with private insurance plans and Medicare Advantage. However, there seems to be some good signs to the budget cut. Brand name prescription drugs will offer a 50% discount for some people on the Medicare plan who fall into this area called the “doughnut hole”, in other words, the Medicare coverage gap. The White House also promises that preventative care would be better and the Senate bills will take away co-payments and deductibles. The bill to change Medicare costs also introduces the idea of “medical homes” and “accountable care organizations” which seem like great ideas. A “medical home” would mean having a general practice doctor acting as the patients medical care coordinator: Making sure all the medications don’t interact badly with another, and making sure all the doctors one patient sees are good and following up in an appropriate manner. Many seniors do deal with tons of doctors, and having one doctor who manages that for them would be extremely helpful. An “accountable care organization” are various hospitals, nursing homes, regular doctors’ offices who want to give the best medical care and who are trying to be cost efficient for patient’s sake. An example of an “accountable care organization” is the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Seniors should definitely start paying attention to all these bills being proposed because ultimately they will be the ones affected. As long as government doesn’t but hold the idea of saving money on Medicare higher than maintaining quality health care for seniors, then this seems like they could be on a smart track to save money and add more options and better medical attention for seniors with Medicare. We all should stay tuned in to the changes that are proposed to take place.

To view this article in full, visit the Chicago Tribune.