Update On Changes to Seniors' Healthcare

The Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007 passed both Houses of Congress and is currently being reconciled by a joint committee. This has a far reaching impact on many segments of the U.S. population. the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is a national program in the U.S. designed for families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, yet cannot afford to buy private insurance. The program was created to address the growing number of children in the United States without health insurance. At its creation in 1997, SCHIP was the largest expansion of health insurance coverage for children in the United States since Medicaid began in the 1960s. In an expansion of this program, Congress has targeted ways to pay for the additional $35 billion price tag. Medicare Advantage, started as a means to reform senior healthcare not only will now be called Medicare Part C, but also will lose millions in support. Payments by CMS to insurers to administer benefits will by cut. This may result in higher premiums for seniors seeking healthcare in this form. To date, about 8.3 million seniors carry insurance through a Medicare-approved private carrier. The argument on one side is that it will adversely affect the poorest of seniors who relied on this program to keep insurance costs down. The supporters of S-CHIP expansion claim that Medicare Advantage payments to contractors is corporate welfare.

Second, increased excise taxes on tobacco are being proposed to offset the increased costs to SCHIP. Particularly, cigar smokers are going to pay much higher prices for their pasttime. You may have seen commercials advocating for the expansion of SCHIP. Commercials are now coming out to oppose Part C cuts. I don't know an easy answer, but careful evaluation must ask if one group's interests should be pited against another. I will try to continue to track this for the blog readers.

Understanding The Risk Of Disability

Disability is a risk that most Americans still don't consider or understand. In insurance language, short-term disability (STD) is two years and under, while Long-Term Disability (LTD) is beyond two years to permanent. Unlike pre-mature death (unpleasant but important topics), a result of disability is that a person's expenses increase while their income stops.
More than 500,000 individuals received long term disability insurance payments from private companies in 2006 according to the Council for Disability Awareness. Those payments totaled $7.2 billion, an increase of about 7% from 2005. This does not include the $80 billion paid by the Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI) to 6.8 million people. SSDI payments have increased 105% since 1996.
The major misconception is that Social Security will be the safety net in case of disability. In fact, 2006 statistics show that only 39% of the 2.1 million workers who filed for SSDI benefits received approval. The following are some other facts regarding disability and a helpful website to learn more.

• Disability rate among women is growing faster than men.
• Women now account for 47% of all SSDI receiptants.
• Musculoskeletal disorders accounted for 25% of all LTD causes followed by Cancer and Stroke.
• Only 8% of new LTD claims were accident/injury related.

www.disabilitycanhappen.org

Medicare Advantage Cuts Possible

Congress is debating the idea of cuts to the Medicare Advantage program established with the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. Some members of Congress are seeking to use cuts in Medicare Advantage to provide additional funding of (S-CHIP) State Children's Health Insurance Program. To date about 8.3 million seniors receive their coverage through Medicare Advantage. Whether you choose this way or not, it has given seniors more options for healthcare. Options are good in the marketplace. I believe this is a program that should be allowed to grow if it will help the Medicare "crisis" America faces. I am providing a link to a site to voice your opinion. I will try and have more information on these developments to come.

http/www.protectyouradavantage.org