Obamacare to reduce Seniors on Medicare to beneath Medicaid status- Obama News

Will the Elderly be taken care of in the Obamacare universe?

Obamacare, Seniors, Medicare, Medicaid, Obama Watch, Obama news, Politics, Election 2010

From http://www.gop.gov

ObamaCare cuts $575.1 billion from Medicare, according to President Obama’s chief actuary.   These cuts will affect all aspects on health care for seniors—coverage, prices, and access.  In addition, ObamaCare includes billions of dollars in tax increases on seniors.

Loss of Coverage

Despite multiple public pledges by President Obama that all Americans will be able to keep their current health insurance coverage, many seniors are on the verge of losing their Medicare Advantage plans.  According to the June 2009 MedPac data book, 10.5 million seniors opted out of traditional Medicare in 2009 and selected a Medicare Advantage plan to cover their health care needs.

excerpt from the report:

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
7500 Security Boulevard, Mail Stop N3-01-21
Baltimore, Maryland 21244-1850
Office of the Actuary
DATE: April 22, 2010
FROM: Richard S. Foster Chief Actuary
SUBJECT: Estimated Financial Effects of the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” as Amended
The Office of the Actuary has prepared this memorandum in our longstanding capacity as an independent technical advisor to both the Administration and the Congress. The costs, savings, and coverage impacts shown herein represent our best estimates for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We offer this analysis in the hope that it will be of interest and value to policy makers and administrators as they implement and monitor these far-reaching national health care reforms. The statements, estimates, and other information provided in this memorandum are those of the Office of the Actuary and do not represent an official position of the Department of Health & Human Services or the Administration.
This memorandum summarizes the Office of the Actuary’s estimates of the financial and coverage effects through fiscal year 2019 of selected provisions of the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (P.L. 111-148) as enacted on March 23, 2010 and amended by the “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010” (P.L. 111-152) as enacted on March 30, 2010. For convenience, the health reform legislation, including amendments, will be referred to in this memorandum as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA.
Included are the estimated net Federal expenditures in support of expanded health insurance coverage, the associated numbers of people by insured status, the changes in Medicare and Medicaid expenditures and revenues, and the overall impact on total national health expenditures. Except where noted, we have not estimated the impact of the various tax and fee provisions or the impact on income and payroll taxes due to economic effects of the legislation. Similarly, the impact on Federal administrative expenses is excluded. A summary of the data, assumptions, and methodology underlying our national health reform estimates will be available in a forthcoming memorandum by the OACT Health Reform Modeling Team.
Summary
The table shown on page 2 presents financial impacts of the selected PPACA provisions on the Federal Budget in fiscal years 2010-2019. We have grouped the provisions of the legislation into six major categories:
(i) Coverage provisions, which include the mandated coverage for health insurance, a substantial expansion of Medicaid eligibility, and the additional funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP);
(ii) Medicare provisions;
(iii) Medicaid and CHIP provisions other than the coverage expansion and CHIP funding;
(iv) Provisions aimed in part at changing the trend in health spending growth;
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(v) The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program; and
(vi) Immediate health insurance reforms.
The estimated costs and savings shown in the table are based on the effective dates specified in the law as enacted. Additionally, we assume that employers and individuals would take roughly 3 to 5 years to fully adapt to the new insurance coverage options and that the enrollment of additional individuals under the Medicaid coverage expansion would be completed by the third year of implementation. Because of these transition effects and the fact that most of the coverage provisions would be in effect for only 6 of the 10 years of the budget period, the cost estimates shown in this memorandum do not represent a full 10-year cost for the new legislation.
Estimated Federal Costs (+) or Savings (−) under Selected Provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as Enacted and Amended (in billions)
Fiscal Year
Total,
Provisions
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2010-19
Total*
$9.2
−$0.7
−$12.6
−$22.3
$16.8
$57.9
$63.1
$54.2
$47.2
$38.5
$251.3
Coverage†
3.3
4.6
4.9
5.2
82.9
119.2
138.2
146.6
157.6
165.8
828.2
Medicare
1.2
−4.7
−14.9
−26.3
−68.8
−60.3
−75.2
−92.1
−108.2
−125.7
−575.1
Medicaid/CHIP
−0.9
−0.9
0.8
4.5
8.6
5.1
4.6
3.4
1.3
1.7
28.3
Cost trend‡
—
—
—
—
−0.0
−0.1
−0.2
−0.4
−0.6
−0.9
−2.3
CLASS program
—
−2.8
−4.5
−5.6
−5.9
−6.0
−4.3
−3.4
−2.8
−2.4
−37.8
Immediate reforms
5.6
3.2
1.2
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
10.0
* Excludes Title IX revenue provisions except for sections 9008 and 9015, certain provisions with limited impacts, and Federal administrative costs.
† Includes expansion of Medicaid eligibility and additional funding for CHIP.
‡ Includes estimated non-Medicare Federal savings from provisions for comparative effectiveness research, prevention and wellness, fraud and abuse, and administrative simplification. Excludes impacts of other provisions that would affect cost growth rates, such as the productivity adjustments to Medicare payment rates (which are reflected in the Medicare line) and the section 9001 excise tax on high-cost employer plans.
As indicated in the table above, the provisions in support of expanding health insurance coverage (including the Medicaid eligibility changes and additional CHIP funding) are estimated to cost $828 billion through fiscal year 2019. The Medicare, Medicaid, growth-trend, CLASS, and immediate reform provisions are estimated to result in net savings of about $577 billion, leaving a net overall cost for this period of $251 billion before consideration of additional Federal administrative expenses and the increase in Federal revenues that would result from the excise tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and other revenue provisions. (The additional Supplementary Medical Insurance revenues from fees on brand-name prescription drugs under section 9008 of the PPACA, and the additional Hospital Insurance payroll tax income under section 9015, are included in the estimated Medicare savings shown here.) The Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation have estimated that the total net amount of Medicare savings and additional tax and other revenues would
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somewhat more than offset the cost of the national coverage provisions, resulting in an overall reduction in the Federal deficit through 2019.
The following chart summarizes the estimated impacts of the PPACA on insurance coverage. The mandated coverage provisions, which include new responsibilities for both individuals and employers, and the creation of the American Health Benefit Exchanges (hereafter referred to as the “Exchanges”), would lead to shifts across coverage types and a substantial overall reduction in the number of uninsured, as many of these individuals become covered through their employers, Medicaid, or the Exchanges.
Estimated Effect of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as Enacted and Amended, on 2019 Enrollment by Insurance Coverage (in millions)
60.563.5165.925.756.960.583.9164.541.623.1020406080100120140160180MedicareMedicaid & CHIPEmployer-sponsored insuranceIndividual coverage (Exchange & other)UninsuredPrior LawPPACA
Note: Totals across categories are not meaningful due to overlaps among categories (e.g., Medicare and Medicaid).
By calendar year 2019, the mandates, coupled with the Medicaid expansion, would reduce the number of uninsured from 57 million, as projected under prior law, to an estimated 23 million under the PPACA. The additional 34 million people who would become insured by 2019 reflect the net effect of several shifts. First, an estimated 18 million would gain primary Medicaid coverage as a result of the expansion of eligibility to all legal resident adults under 133 percent1 of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).2 (In addition, roughly 2 million people with employer-