Medicare

Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008

hmoroz — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:04:39 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percent by which the cost of private Medicare Advantage plans exceeds the cost of traditional Medicare: 13

Amount saved between 2009 and 2017 by setting payments to private Medicare plans at the same level as traditional Medicare: $149 billion

Number of elderly and disabled Americans insured by Medicare: 44 million

Number of uninsured Americans: 47 million

Price of a hospital bed according to Medicare’s fixed price schedule, according to The Chicago Tribune: $2,174

Price of a hospital bed that can be found online, according to The Chicago Tribune: $754

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports. Skyrocketing health care costs are increasingly burdening the middle class: 47 million Americans lacked health insurance in 2006, an increase of 2.2 million from 2005. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, health care premiums increased 78% between 2002 and 2007, while wages grew only 19%. Medicare has shielded elderly Americans, who spend more on health care than the non-elderly, from these increasing health care costs, helping them maintain a middle-class standard of living. The scheduled payment cut for doctors offering Medicare services risked forcing many doctors to leave Medicare. Indeed, the American Medical Association reports that 60% of physicians say the cut would force them to limit the number of new Medicare patients they could treat. Stopping the scheduled payment cuts encourages that these doctors continue to accept Medicare beneficiaries.

Further, the legislation funds these cuts by reducing payments to a private Medicare program – Medicare Advantage – that inflates the costs to middle-class taxpayers. Indeed, it is estimated that private Medicare plans are paid 13% more than traditional Medicare plans would be to cover the same beneficiaries. Not only is the Medicare Advantage plan more expensive for the public than traditional Medicare, but it also undermines the principle of universal health insurance for the elderly. By reducing payments to private plans, this legislation begins to move Medicare back to its original purpose to provide public health coverage to elderly Americans to ensure their access to affordable preventive care, hospital care, and prescription medication.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Medicare Policy Project, from the Kaiser Family Foundation

“Informing the Debate about Curbing Medicare Advantage Overpayments,” from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Report on Competitive Bidding for Medical Equipment, from the Government Accountability Office

Amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008

hmoroz — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:23:04 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Approximate total award that service members can currently receive toward their education, in dollars: 39,600

Average total charges, including tuition and fees and room and board, for four years at an in-state public college or university in 2007, in dollars: 54,356

Estimated percentage of the unemployed who will be unemployed for longer than six months by the end of 2009, according to the Economic Policy Institute: 20.8

Number of states with an unemployment rate greater than 6.0% as of April 2008, including Washington D.C.: 5

Amount of stimulus produced for every $1 spent on extending emergency federal unemployment insurance benefits, in dollars: 1.64

Unemployment rate in Michigan in April 2008: 6.9%

Minimum estimated cost of the Iraq War paid by Michigan as of May 2008, in dollars: 13 billion

Estimated 10-year cost of extending unemployment insurance benefits, in dollars: 11.1 billion

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports. The American economy remains at risk of recession and the employment picture is dim. In the first four months of 2008, the American economy lost 260,000 jobs and 400,000 workers were classified as “discouraged,” wanting work but believing that no jobs were available for them. Unemployment benefits provide direct assistance to the current and aspiring middle-class Americans likely to be hardest hit during the economic downturn. Moreover, the unemployed are most likely to spend their unemployment benefits immediately, providing an economic jolt that will enhance the stimulus generated by the tax rebates sent out earlier this year. Indeed, extension of unemployment benefits provides $1.64 in stimulus for every dollar spent, making the policy one of the most effective stimulus measures.

The “New GI Bill” measures are also important. Our nation owes those young people who have volunteered to fight for the United States a fair opportunity to enter the middle class. After World War II, the education and other benefits of the GI Bill allowed unprecedented numbers of returning soldiers to access a middle-class standard of living, but today’s GI Bill, intended for peacetime, does not provide adequate benefits. This amendment would change that. Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars face not only the challenges of readjustment to civilian life, frequently complicated by injury or mental illness, but the rising cost of higher education impacting middle-class Americans across the United States. The current GI bill covers only 60-70% of the cost of tuition at a four-year public university and less than two years at a private college. The Amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill would permit the equivalent of full scholarships to public institutions of higher learning to any service member who completed three years of service.

Imposing a moratorium on Administration-proposed Medicaid regulations will ensure continued health care access for aspiring middle-class beneficiaries and prevent a devastating loss of funding to states, public hospitals, and local schools already struggling during the economic downturn.

The provisions that increase accountability and transparency in federal contracting are welcome, but are not as comprehensive as those included in the Accountability in Contracting Act, passed by the House last year.

The Senate version contains welcome funding for programs that benefit aspiring middle-class and middle-class Americans.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

"Making the Case - Again - for Economic Rebound," from the Economic Policy Institute

Unemployment Insurance and the Stimulus Debate, from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities

"A New GI Bill," from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

Medicare Fair Prescription Drug Price Act of 2007

atraub — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:52:29 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percentage increase between 2000 and 2006 in the cost of brand-name drugs commonly prescribed to seniors: 53.6

Percentage rate of general inflation during this period: 20.1

Percentage of Americans who support the idea of Congress allowing the federal government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices on Medicare prescription drugs: 80

Estimated amount taxpayers and Medicare beneficiaries would save in 2008 alone if the federal government negotiated drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies: $30 billion

Lowest Medicare Part D price in 2006 for a year of treatment with Zocor, a popular drug for patients with high cholesterol: $1,485.96

Lowest VA price in 2006 for a year of treatment with Zocor: $127.44

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports: Often living on fixed incomes, America’s seniors struggle to cope with prescription drug prices that increase every year. The new Medicare prescription drug plan was ostensibly designed to save these seniors money on needed medications. But the plan provides far less savings than it could – both for the seniors it covers and for the taxpayers who bear the costs of the new plan – because it fails to take advantage of the federal government’s ability to negotiate for better prices by buying drugs in bulk. For example, if the federal government were to buy a million pills of cholesterol-lowering medication, enough for every Medicare recipient in the country, they could receive a very low price because of the huge quantity. Instead of realizing these savings, the program relies on individual insurance plans to make drug purchases. Because none of these individual insurers has the purchasing power of the federal government, the result is a less efficient system with higher prices.

Most industrialized countries, including Canada, use the government’s bulk purchasing power to bargain for better drug prices. Domestically, the United States Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) also uses this common-sense practice to reduce its costs. Studies suggest that the prices negotiated by the VA for many drugs are substantially lower than those offered under the new Medicare plan. Middle-class Americans, whether they are senior citizens, taxpayers or both, cannot afford to see the federal government squander this opportunity to rein in the ever-escalating costs of prescription drugs.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

“Medicare: Prescription Drugs,” from Families USA

National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices

“Celebrating Pork: The Dubious Success of the Medicare Drug Benefit,” by Dean Baker from the Center for Economic Policy Research

“Price Negotiation Would Dramatically Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs for Medicare Beneficiaries,” from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007

atraub — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:48:40 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percentage increase between 2000 and 2006 in the cost of brand-name drugs commonly prescribed to seniors: 53.6

Percentage rate of general inflation during this period: 20.1

Percentage of Americans who support the idea of Congress allowing the federal government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices on Medicare prescription drugs: 80

Estimated amount taxpayers and Medicare beneficiaries would save in 2008 alone if the federal government negotiated drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies: $30 billion

Lowest Medicare Part D price in 2006 for a year of treatment with Zocor, a popular drug for patients with high cholesterol: $1,485.96

Lowest VA price in 2006 for a year of treatment with Zocor: $127.44

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

“Medicare: Prescription Drugs,” from Families USA

National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices

“Celebrating Pork: The Dubious Success of the Medicare Drug Benefit,” by Dean Baker from the Center for Economic Policy Research

“Price Negotiation Would Dramatically Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs for Medicare Beneficiaries,” from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (House vote)

atraub — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:53:19 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Opposes

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Estimated amount of child support that will go uncollected over five years due to this bill’s cuts to enforcement budgets, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO): $2.9 billion
Amount of additional childcare funding the CBO estimates states would need over five years to provide programs enabling welfare recipients to meet the new work requirements in this bill: $8.4 billion

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Opposes. Hurricane Katrina’s devastating aftermath starkly revealed the deep inequalities and entrenched poverty that still afflict our nation. In the wake of the disaster, many hoped that Congress would renew its focus on the hurdles faced by low-income Americans struggling to attain a measure of middle-class security. In the midst of a prolonged budget fight that continued well into 2006, Congress instead approved this legislation, providing inadequate funding to Katrina survivors and imposing arduous new work requirements on welfare recipients while cutting back on programs like Medicaid, foster care and child support that ensure the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable children get a fair and healthy start in life. At the same time, the budget squeezes new government recepits from financially-strapped parents and college students paying student loans, increasing financial hardship for those striving to get the education that can enable them to enter the middle class. While reducing deficits was the pretext for this budgetary attack on the aspiring middle class, the bill’s supporters conveniently ignored the fact that these deficits originated in Congress’ own frequent rounds of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, more of which were set to be approved in 2006. Slashing services for the poor to finance tax cuts for the rich is a recipe for shrinking the American middle class.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Senate vote)

atraub — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:38:59 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Opposes

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Estimated amount of child support that will go uncollected over five years due to this bill’s cuts to enforcement budgets, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO): $2.9 billion

Amount of additional childcare funding the CBO estimates states would need over five years to provide programs enabling welfare recipients to meet the new work requirements in this bill: $8.4 billion

Amount of childcare funding the bill provides to meet the requirements: $1 billion

Estimated number of child care slots for low-income families that would be lost by 2010 as a result of the shortfall: 255,000

Maximum co-pay states were usually allowed to charge low-income Medicaid beneficiaries for medical services and prescription drugs prior to this bill: $3

Co-pay a family of three with an income of $24,500 dollars could now be expected to make for a day of hospitalization, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: $320

Cost increase per $10,000 borrowed for parents taking out PLUS loans to help their children attend college due to this bill: $382

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Amendment on Negotiating Medicare Drug Prices of 2005

jon — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:24:19 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percentage increase in the cost brand-name drugs commonly prescribed to seniors between 2000 and 2005: 40.5
Percentage rate of general inflation during this period: 17.5
Percentage of Americans who support the idea of Congress allowing the federal government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices on Medicare prescription drugs: 77
Projected cost to the federal government of the first ten years of the Medicare prescription drug benefit: $723 billion
Minimum estimated savings compared to the current system if Medicare were to negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies over the first eight years of the program, according to the Center for Economic Policy Research: $332 billion
Median reduction in the annual cost of 49 of the 50 most frequently prescribed drugs when purchased through the VA rather than by using Medicare drug discount cards: $220.44

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Often living on fixed incomes, America's seniors struggle to cope with prescription drug prices that increase every year. The new Medicare prescription drug plan was ostensibly designed to save these seniors money on needed medications. But the plan provides far less savings than it could -- both for the seniors it covers and for the taxpayers who bear the costs of the new plan -- because it fails to take advantage of the federal government's ability to negotiate for better prices by buying in bulk. Instead, the program relies on individual insurance plans, none of which has the purchasing power of the federal government, to make drug purchases, resulting in a less efficient system with higher prices. Not only do most industrialized countries, including Canada, use their bulk purchasing power to bargain for better drug prices, but the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) also uses this common-sense practice to reduce its costs. Studies suggest that the prices negotiated by the VA for many drugs are substantially lower than those offered under the new Medicare plan. Middle-class Americans, whether they are senior citizens, taxpayers or both, cannot afford to see the federal government squander this opportunity to rein in the ever-escalating costs of prescription drugs.

Medicare

Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Medicare Fair Prescription Drug Price Act of 2007

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (House vote)

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Senate vote)

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Amendment on Negotiating Medicare Drug Prices of 2005