Health-care law to save Medicare $575 Billion over this decade, report indicates - WaPo

[JohnWxy]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/02/AR2010080204801.html

The new health overhaul law will start producing savings for Medicare right away and, over time, will add 12 years of solvency to the program's giant trust fund for inpatient care, the Obama administration says in a report to be released Monday.

Medicare will save about $8 billion by the end of next year and $575 billion over the rest of the decade, the report said.

Release of the analysis comes ahead of the official annual financial checkup for Social Security and Medicare from the program's trustees, expected as early as this week. It provides support for the administration's position that the health-care law secures and strengthens health care for seniors.

(more)

[zipplewrath]

1. Huh?

"...provides support for the administration's position that the health-care law secures and strengthens health care for seniors."

I'm not saying it makes it overtly worse, but I'd hardly say it makes health CARE for seniors "stronger". It removes some of the more expensive features of medicare, and will save the government some cash by reducing/limiting payments to providers. A likely consequence will be less available health CARE providers. Mostly, they're getting rid of a GOP experiment in privatization that had resulted in higher costs to the government. Nothing particularly wrong with all of that, presuming seniors can still find providers that will accept meidcare (many do, it's medicaid that often has trouble). But I'm not sure how that strengthens health CARE for seniors.

[JohnWxy]

2. My take on the HC reform law is that it saves Health Insurance for everybody. Without this

action, in the next several years as the cost of private health insurance kept increasing dramatically ever larger numbers would lose their health insurance either because the individuals couldn't afford the premiums or their employers couldn't afford it anymore. Either way millions more would have been losing their insurance. As these people started showing up in ever increasing numbers at Emergency rooms for care. The cost of funding this most expensive way to provide health care (paid for by Governemnt, local and Federal) would have gone up dramatically.

THe Affordable Health Care act has assured solvency for all of Medicare, for 12 more years than it would have been solvent without any changes, and in that way it assures seniors will have Medicare coverage. Republicans always compare the HCR law to some perfect state where we would be able to afford insurance and the government wouldn't go bust trying to pay for Medicare with Health care costs rocketing skyward. With this law, procedures have been put in place to control cost growth and save the health care (and insurance) industry from itself and see that health care is still available (and affordable) for all of us.

[zipplewrath]

5. Saves HI for everyone?

People will still be losing their insurance. It's going to get more expensive, and not because of greedy insurance companies. Health care costs have been rising for a couple of decades faster than wages or inflation. Employers will drop it, because the fines will be cheaper, and the individuals will figure out that it's cheaper to just pay the fine and wait to buy it until you need it. And I'm not sure what any of that has to do with seniors.

Seniors were going to have medicare no matter what, it wasn't going to be eliminated, and HCR didn't have anything to do with that. It did reduce the cost, so that there will be more money for Afghanistan while still trying to reduce the deficit. There are few if any "procedures" to prevent health CARE cost from continuing to rise at the rates they have been. And without the public option, there is virtually no way for the government to directly control health CARE costs.

This bill will save the federal government billions. It will give access to health insurance to people who may have otherwise been denied. And it controls the reasons that health insurance companies can raise rates, and cancel policies. But it doesn't do much at all for health CARE for seniors, or anyone else. It surely doesn't ensure any right or access to health care.

[JohnWxy]

3. I FINALLY found the actual report (kept finding articles about the report couldn't find link to the

to the actual report):

White House page where it talks about it(report is from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): http://m.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/02/saving-money-and-giving-seniors-better-benefits

Link to the actual report: http://www.cms.gov/apps/docs/ACA-Update-Implementing-Medicare-Costs-Savings.pdf


Nobody in M$ press gives you links!

[JohnWxy]

4. Here is the HealthCare. gov site for everything you'd want to know about what's available

http://www.healthcare.gov/

[econoclast]

6. Just out if curiosity ...

Aren't some 300 billion of these savings the 21% cut to Medicare providers that no one seems to be able to get up the moxy to enact? These cuts were "postponed" 7 times in the last 9 years ... Last time as recently as June of this year. If no one has the cohones to enact them, how real are they?

[JohnWxy]

7. the best I can do is refer you to the report (link provided in OP). Page 4 has a chart which shows

several areas of savings. One is reductions to MEdicare Advantage plans, a program by which private insurers can rip off Medicare which will be corrected by this law, but it doesn't come up to the figure you mentioned (can you tell us where you got it?).

THis report only talks about savings to Medicare, but this law will result in savings to those who are privately insured too, because cost cutting measures used by insurers and providers will be enjoyed by those of us with private insurance too.

:-)

[cornermouse]

8. What you can expect to get for less money

Less state-of-the-art equipment. Less treatment for run of the mill conditions such as back pain and as a consequence more pain.

Ain't nothin' free unless you're one of the top 1%.

[JohnWxy]

9. one objective of this law is to improve quality of care. HOw much you spend is no indicator of how

good the care is.

Of course, for those who will get real health care instead of just showing up at the emergency room when they are really bad off, the improvement in quality of care will be incalculable...meaning they won't die as soon and will live healthier lives, which actually in the long run benefits all of us.

[cornermouse]

10. Want to bet?

How do you think they're going to buy the latest equipment with less and less money?