Medicare's Latest Pay Cut Will Harm Seniors (Connecting the Dots: The American Medical Association, Medicare, Medicaid, Health Insurance, FDA, Obamacare, The Center for American Progress & Soros Funding, All Networking)
Newsmax.com
By
Sally PipesMonday, 11 November 2024 01:26 PM EST
https://www.newsmax.com/sallypipes/medicare-doctors-healthcare/2024/11/11/id/1187542/
Doctors
are getting a pay cut in 2025. That's the upshot of a rule
issued by Medicare earlier this month.
Patients
will be the ones who pay the price for Medicare's parsimony. Seniors and
younger people alike will find it harder to secure access to doctors and care.
Physician
practices' finances have been under stress for years. Next year's looming 2.9%
reduction in reimbursement is the fifth
pay cut Medicare has proposed since 2021. After accounting for
inflation, Medicare payments to doctors fell
nearly 30% between 2001 and 2024, according to the American
Medical Association.
The
costs associated with operating a practice — like rent, utilities, medical
equipment, time spent battling insurance companies over things like prior
authorization, and wages for staff — haven't fallen. They're up more
than 50% since 2001. Even as Medicare proposes to cut physician
payments next year, it
admits that doctors' expenses are set to increase 3.5% in
2025.
"To
put it bluntly," AMA President Dr. Bruce A. Scott recently
said, "Medicare plans to pay us less while costs go up. You
don't have to be an economist to know that is an unsustainable trend."
Medicare
currently covers nearly
48 million American patients. This makes it the second-largest
provider of health coverage in the nation, next to Medicaid. And the Medicare
population is growing. The country is aging, and more Baby Boomers are
retiring.
Asking
doctors to see more beneficiaries for less money is unsustainable indeed.
Some
practices will close or sell to hospitals or corporate entities rather than try
to make the math work with lower Medicare reimbursements.
That's
already been happening in recent years. Between 2019 and 2024, hospitals and
corporate entities acquired
more than 44,000 practices.
Others
will respond to lower payments by reducing the number of Medicare beneficiaries
they see. As a result, the supply of care available to them will go down.
So
seniors may have to wait longer for care. They may lose access to their doctor.
Or they may not find one who will take them as a patient.
Lower
Medicare reimbursements and higher operating costs will likely cause providers
to demand higher payments from commercial insurers. Private insurers paid an
average of 129% of
what Medicare paid for physicians' services between 2010 and
2020, according to one recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.
That
number will almost certainly go up, as a matter of financial necessity.
Consolidating providers will also enjoy more negotiating leverage.
The
result will be higher premiums for the privately insured. Narrower provider
networks might come about, too, as insurers search for ways to limit costs.
There
is, of course, still time for lawmakers to prevent next year's cuts in Medicare
physician reimbursement from taking effect. A bipartisan group of lawmakers in
the House introduced
legislation in late October that would stop Medicare's looming
reimbursement cut and provide doctors with a slight pay increase for 2025 tied
to inflation.
Congress
needs to take action before the end of this year. Otherwise, patients could
find doctors a lot harder to come by.
Connecting
the Dots:
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was lobby
firm for American Medical Association.
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer &
Feld, LLP and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank).
Mark B. McClellan was
a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and
a commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for
the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for
the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Harold H. Koh was
a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the State
Department legal adviser for the Barack Obama administration and
is Howard K. Koh’s brother.
Howard K. Koh is Harold
H. Koh’s brother and is the assistant secretary at the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services for the Barack Obama
administration.
Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is a division of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Kathleen Sebelius
is the secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for
the Barack Obama administration and her counselor at HHS was Dora
Hughes.
Dora Hughes was Kathleen
Sebelius’s counselor at HHS and is a senior policy adviser
at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was
a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was
an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
James David Vance worked at Sidley Austin LLP and is the
Vice President for the Donald Trump Administration.
Cameron F. Kerry is
a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, John F. Kerry’s brother
and a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for
the Brookings Institution (think tank) and the Center for
American Progress.
George Soros was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open Society and a supporter for
the Center for American Progress.
Donald M. Berwick is
a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and was an
administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Tom Daschle is
a director at the Center for American Progress and was a nominee
for health and human services secretary for the Barack
Obama administration.
Center
for American Progress was a funder for America's Health
Insurance Plans.
Scott Armstrong is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans, a member of
the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and the president
& CEO for the Group Health Cooperative.
Richard A.
Barasch is a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and
the chairman & president & CEO for the Universal American
Corporation.
Mark T. Bertolini is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
chairman & president & CEO for Aetna Inc.
Bruce G. Bodaken is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and was the
chairman & president & CEO for the Blue Shield of California.
Gail K. Boudreaux is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the EVP
for the UnitedHealth Group Inc.
Mary K. Brainerd is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
president & CEO for HealthPartners Inc.
Angela F. Braly is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and was the
president & CEO for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri.
William M.
Cameron is a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and
the chairman & CEO for American Fidelity Assurance.
James G. Carlson is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and was the
chairman & president & CEO for the Amerigroup Corporation.
David M. Cordani is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
president & CEO for the CIGNA Corporation.
Michael W. Cropp is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
president & CEO for Independent Health.
Michael M. Dudley is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
president for Sentara Health Plans Inc.
Mark B. Ganz is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
president & CEO for Cambia Health Solutions, Inc.
Jay M. Gellert is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
president & CEO for Health Net, Inc.
Vicky B. Gregg is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
president & CEO for the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
Patricia
A. Hemingway Hall is a director at the America's Health
Insurance Plans and the president & CEO for the Health
Care Service Corporation.
George C.
Halvorson is a director at the America's Health Insurance
Plans and the chairman for Kaiser Permanente.
Daniel J.
Hilferty III is a director at the America's Health Insurance
Plans and the president & CEO for Independence Blue Cross.
Daniel J. Houston is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and was a
director at Catalyst Health Solutions.
Michael B.
McCallister is a director at the America's Health Insurance
Plans and the chairman for Humana Inc.
Kevin P. McCarthy is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the EVP
for the Unum Group.
Unum
in the US
http://www.unumgroup.com/About/UUS.aspx
For
more than 37 years, Unum has been the leading provider of group disability
benefits in the U.S.1
J. Mario Molina is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
chairman & president & CEO for the Molina Healthcare Inc.
Daniel P. Neary is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
chairman & CEO for Mutual of Omaha.
Robert A. Reed is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
president & CEO for the Physicians Mutual Insurance Company.
James Roosevelt
Jr. is a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and
the president & CEO for the Tufts Health Plan.
Eric H. Schultz is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
president & CEO for the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.
Charles D.
Baker Jr. was a director at the America's Health Insurance
Plans and is the president & CEO for the Harvard Pilgrim
Health Care.
Anthony L. Watson is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
chairman & CEO for the HIP Health Plan of New York.
Debbie J. Ahl was
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and is the
president & CEO for the Sterling Life Insurance Company.
K. Rone Baldwin was
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and is the
EVP & COO for the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.
Christy W. Bell was
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and is the
EVP for the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.
Frank J.
Branchini was a director at the America's Health Insurance
Plans, is the president & COO for Emblem Health and
the CEO for Group Health Inc.
Benjamin M.
Cutler was a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and
is the chairman & CEO for USHEALTH Group Inc.
Joseph A. Frick was
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and is the
vice chairman for Independence Blue Cross.
H. Edward Hanway was
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
chairman & CEO & president for the CIGNA Corporation.
Robert I. Lufrano was
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the CEO
for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida.
Frederick J.
Manning was a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and
is the chairman & CEO for the Celtic Insurance Company.
David M.
McDonough was a director at the America's Health Insurance
Plans and is the president & CEO for the Trustmark
Insurance Company.
Adrienne Morrell was
a lobbyist at the America's Health Insurance Plans and is a
lobbyist for Health Net, Inc.
Ronald A. Williams was
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and the
chairman for the Emergency Medical Services Corp.
Jeannine M. Rivet was
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and is the
EVP for the UnitedHealth Group Inc.
Lewis G. Sandy was
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and is the
SVP for the UnitedHealth Group Inc.
Tom Daschle was
an adviser for the UnitedHealth Group Inc., the nominee for health
and human services secretary for the Barack Obama administration and
a director at the Center for American Progress (think tank).
Center
for American Progress (think tank) was a funder for America's
Health Insurance Plans.
Open Society Foundations was a funder
for the Center for American Progress (think tank).
George Soros is the founder & chairman
for the Open Society Foundations, was the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society and a supporter for the Center for
American Progress (think tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder
for the Center for American Progress (think tank).
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was the lobby firm for the Center
for American Progress (think tank), the America's
Health Insurance Plans and the American Medical
Association.
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer &
Feld,
an
honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and
married to Ann Dibble Jordan.
Mark B. McClellan was
a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and
a commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution
(think tank) and Center for American Progress.
George Soros was the
chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society and a supporter
for the Center for American Progress (think tank).
Center
for American Progress was a funder for the America's Health
Insurance Plans.
Tom Daschle is
a director at the Center for American Progress,
was a nominee for health and human services
secretary for the Barack Obama administration and a special policy
adviser at Alston & Bird.
Thomas A. Scully is
a senior counsel at Alston & Bird, the president & CEO for
the Federation of American Hospitals and an administrator
for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Timothy P. Trysla is
a partner at Alston & Bird and was a senior policy adviser
to the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS).
Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services is a division of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
Marilyn B.
Tavenner is the administrator for the Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services (CMS) and was the group president of outpatient
services for the Hospital Corporation of America.
Donald M. Berwick was
an administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) and is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for
the Center for American Progress and the and the Committee for
Economic Development.
George Soros was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open Society and a supporter for
the Center for American Progress (think tank).
Trevor Fetter was
a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development and a
director at the Federation of American Hospitals.
Jack O. Bovender
Jr. was a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development and the chairman & CEO for HCA Holdings Inc.
Nancy-Ann DeParle is
a director at HCA Holdings Inc., was the White House health czar
& deputy chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration and
an administrator for the Health Care Financing Administration.
Health
Care Financing Administration was the predecessor for the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Hospital
Corporation of America was the predecessor for HCA Holdings
Inc.
Donna S. Morea was
a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development and the EVP
for the CGI Group Inc.
CGI Group Inc. was
the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov
web site.
Obamacare is Barack
Obama’s signature policy initiative.
Kenneth M.
Duberstein was the VP for the Committee for Economic
Development and is the chairman & CEO for the Duberstein
Group, Inc.
Duberstein
Group, Inc. is the lobby firm for the America's Health
Insurance Plans.
Scott Armstrong is
a director at the America's Health Insurance Plans and a member of
the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
Dan L. Crippen was
the SVP for the Duberstein Group, Inc. and a director at the Congressional
Budget Office (CBO).
CBO
Confirms: Biden-Harris Election Year Medicare Cost-Shifting Policy Will Cost
Taxpayers Billions in 2025
October
03,2024
Washington,
D.C.--The
nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its analysis of a newly announced
Biden-Harris program intended to paper over the flaws of the so-called
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Based on CBO estimates, this election-year
stunt to artificially lower the cost of seniors’ Part D premiums will cost
taxpayers at least $7 billion in 2025, including $2 billion in additional
interest on our already ballooning debt. CBO also notes the underlying
partisan policy changes to seniors’ prescription drug coverage could cost up to
$20 billion more in 2025 than previously assumed.
This
analysis is in response to a request from
U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), U.S. Senate
Budget Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), U.S. House Budget
Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), U.S. House Energy and Commerce
Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) and U.S. House Ways and
Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Missouri).
Ranking
Member Crapo Statement:
“The
Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that the Biden-Harris
Administration’s latest 2024 gimmick will spend billions in taxpayer dollars to
blanket over the consequences of the rushed, partisan so-called Inflation
Reduction Act. This type of executive overreach treats the Treasury as a
piggy-bank, exacerbating inflation and sidestepping Congress to advance
conveniently timed political aims.”
Ranking
Member Grassley Statement:
“When
Democrats unilaterally enacted major changes to Medicare two years ago,
they set seniors up for new expenses and fewer options. This nonpartisan
CBO analysis confirms CMS’s cost-shifting plan is a dishonest election-year
gimmick to cover up those consequences. Rather than coming to the table and
legitimately addressing its partisan mistakes, the Biden-Harris administration
threw taxpayer dollars at the problems it created, putting Americans on the
hook for tens-of-billions more dollars.”
Chair
Arrington Statement:
“As
predicted, the Biden-Harris Inflation Reduction Act not only quelled investment
for new cures, but caused Medicare prescription drug plan premiums to
skyrocket, and Democrats are scrambling to cover it up before the election.
“In
July, the Biden-Harris CMS scrambled to create a new federal program that will
send billions of tax dollars to large health insurance companies to cover up a
massive flaw in their so-called Inflation Reduction Act.
“Now,
CBO confirmed that the Administration’s election year Hail Mary will cost
taxpayers an astounding $7 billion next year alone, and $21 billion over the
planned 3-year demo, adding to the more than $2 trillion in Biden-Harris
executive spending.”
Chair
McMorris Rodgers Statement:
“The
CBO confirms the $7 billion cost for just one year of the Biden-Harris
administration’s politically motivated scheme to buy off big insurance
companies just weeks before an election. The American people should not
be fooled by this illegal, last-ditch attempt to cover up Democrats’ disastrous
policies that significantly raised Medicare Part D premiums. President
Biden and Vice President Harris should abandon this ill-fated plan and work on
bipartisan solutions to lowering the cost of care, like the Lower Costs, More
Transparency Act."
Chair
Smith Statement:
“The
so-called Inflation Reduction Act – which is law as a result of Vice President
Harris’ tie-breaking vote in the Senate – has led to a predictable spike in the
cost of prescription drug coverage for America’s seniors. Rather than
change course, the Biden-Harris Administration is cutting taxpayer-funded blank
checks to large health insurers to sweep the mess under the rug. It is a
shameful attempt to delay the inevitable fallout of a failed policy that leaves
taxpayers footing the bill today and seniors paying the price tomorrow.”
Background:
Congressional
Democrats included policies in the IRA that significantly redesigned the
Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit at an initial estimated cost of
nearly $30 billion over
ten years.
These
policy changes restructured the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit and
take effect in 2025. As a result, Medicare prescription drug plan (PDP)
sponsors responded by significantly increasing their plan bids and base
beneficiary premiums for 2025, as well as reducing the number of plans offered
to seniors next year.
In
response, on July 29, 2024, the Biden-Harris Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new Medicare Part D Premium Stabilization
Demonstration program, which will send Federal dollars to large health
insurance companies to artificially lower the cost of seniors’ Part D premiums.
The
bottom line:
The
Premium Stabilization Demonstration program will shift financial liability onto
American taxpayers by applying a uniform reduction of $15 to the base
beneficiary premium, establishing a year-over-year limit of $35 on how much a
plan’s total Part D premium can increase, and adjusting risk corridors to shift
financial liability from large insurance companies to taxpayers.
Under
the Biden-Harris Administration, average Medicare Part D premiums increased by
over 11 percent from 2021 to 2024, costing seniors an average of $52 more per
year for their prescription drug coverage. On the contrary, under the
Trump Administration, average Part D premiums decreased by
over 5.5 percent, saving seniors an average of $27 a year.
As
a result, before the announcement of the Biden-Harris Administration’s
election-year bailout of health insurance companies, seniors’ premiums had
increased under this Administration at more than twice the rate that they
decreased under the Trump Administration.
While
the Trump Administration lowered costs by increasing free-market competition,
the Biden-Harris Administration has subjected seniors to soaring prescription
drug costs with sloppy partisan policymaking and one-size-fits-all “Washington
knows best” mandates.
Because
of Democrats’ rushed, partisan policymaking in the IRA, America’s seniors were
faced with sharp increases in their prescription drug premiums as well as fewer
choices for coverage.
To
cover up rising premiums ahead of November, the Biden-Harris Administration
announced a demonstration program, which will buy down premium increases by
sending billions of taxpayer dollars directly to large insurance
companies. A recent editorial from The
Wall Street Journal called the plan “a Medicare election bribe
for seniors.”
Resources:
Past Research
Shock
Report: Federal Government Will Bill Peoples' Estates After Death To Pay For
Medicaid Expenses (Past Research on Medicare &
Medicaid)
Monday,
December 16, 2013
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2013/12/shock-report-federal-government-will.html
A
Gun to the Head: Obamacare Medicaid Expansion and the Federal Takeover of State
Governments (Past Research on Medicare &
Medicaid)
Saturday,
November 22, 2014
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-gun-to-head-obamacare-medicaid.html
THE
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION GOES INSANE (Past
Research on the American Medical Association)
Friday,
May 21, 2021
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-american-medical-association-goes.html
J.
D. Vance (Connecting the Dots: J.D. Vance, Sidley Austin LLP, Obama, CNN,
Kimberly Cheatle, U.S. Secret Service, PepsiCo, U.S. Secret Service, Pence,
FBI, Merrick Garland, Alejandro Mayorkas, O'Melveny & Myers LLP & Soros
Funding, All Networking) (Past Research on Sidley
Austin LLP & J.D. Vance)
Monday,
July 15, 2024
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2024/07/j-d-vance-connecting-dots-jd-vance.html
Who
is Involved in Your Healthcare? (Connecting the Dots: America's Health
Insurance Plans, the Center for American Progress (Think Tank), Vaccine
Manufacturer’s & the Soros Funded Think Tanks All Networking) (Past Research on the America's Health Insurance Plans)
Thursday,
October 13, 2022
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