More Republican Misinformation On Medicare To Scare Seniors

There they go again. Republicans are again trying to scare seniors by spreading misinformation about Medicare. They have been making the same false claims for the past few years. From Politico:

Republican Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida took aim today at Obamacare’s impact on older Americans, saying that seniors across the country are paying “more money for fewer choices, less access and far less peace of mind.”

In the GOP’s weekly address, Rooney castigated President Barack Obama’s very public pledge that Americans of all ages would be able to keep their doctors under the health law. Since the fall, the president has had to backtrack on that statement, acknowledging that the law was forcing changes in insurance plans that meant some people were losing their physicians.

“Here’s the reality,” Rooney said as he blamed Obamacare for “deep cuts” made to the popular Medicare Advantage program that serves low-income seniors, among others. “Constituents tell me they can no longer see the primary care physicians they have been going to for 10 and every 20 years,” he said. “One woman told me that four of her specialists have already been dropped from her plan.”

The truth is that Obamacare is helping, not hurting, seniors.

Medicare Advantage Plans were set up by George Bush as a way to reward insurance companies for all their contributions to the Republican Party. The initial law establishing the plans provided tremendous subsidies for insurance companies. The idea as initially argued by conservatives was that private insurance companies could provide health care more economically than the big bloated government Medicare program. Instead the government pays private insurance companies substantially more to treat Medicare patients than it costs to care for the same patients in the government plan. Any true Republican should think that private insurance companies should not need this corporate welfare.

The Affordable Care Act is paid for partially by reducing this corporate welfare, saving the tax payers about $136 billion over ten years. Private insurance companies will still receive plenty of money to care for seniors. Why should they need more money than it costs to treat them in the government program?

Medicare Advantage plans have been using limited panels for several years to try to save money. The Affordable Care Act does not change that, except now the insurance plans blame Obamacare for what they would do even if Obamacare did not exist.

The Affordable Care Act has helped seniors in many ways. It makes Medicare more sound financially. The donut holes in the drug benefit are being phased out, saving seniors money on their prescriptions. Preventative studies which previously were not covered are now covered by Medicare, saving seniors yet more money.

It is particularly absurd to expect seniors to turn to the Republicans when they have already voted for a plan which would end Medicare as we know it and force those on Medicare in the future to pay more out of their own pockets for health care coverage.

Cross posted at The Moderate Voice

Ignorance of Science In America

Earth From Moon

Last week I wrote about the debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham on evolution versus creationism. Many scientists were justifiably annoyed that this was even a topic of  debate. We are contrasting evolution, based upon a tremendous body of actual evidence, with creationism, a belief lacking any evidence which is based purely upon religious dogma. I’ve noted in the past that a disturbing number of Americans do not accept evolution, which provides the foundation of modern biology. While far more Republicans deny evolution than Democrats and Independents, the problem is not limited to Republicans.

We see ignorance of science in many areas. While the tobacco industry has pretty much given up the battle against evidence that cigarette smoking is hazardous, we see essentially the same type of anti-scientific misinformation being spread by the petroleum industry regarding climate change denialism. The recent death of Philp Seymore Hoffman of a heroin overdose raised the issue that there are people who remain unaware of the science demonstrating that addiction is a disease, not just a bad choice.

Unfortunately ignorance of science is widespread in this country, often impacting views on public policy. The American Association for the Advancement of Science has released a survey demonstrating this ignorance:

Americans are enthusiastic about the promise of science but lack basic knowledge of it, with one in four unaware that the Earth revolves around the Sun, said a poll out Friday.

The survey included more than 2,200 people in the United States and was conducted by the National Science Foundation.

Nine questions about physical and biological science were on the quiz, and the average score — 6.5 correct — was barely a passing grade.

Just 74 percent of respondents knew that the Earth revolved around the Sun, according to the results released at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago.

Fewer than half (48 percent) knew that human beings evolved from earlier species of animals.

The result of the survey, which is conducted every two years, will be included in a National Science Foundation report to President Barack Obama and US lawmakers.

One in three respondents said science should get more funding from the government.

Nearly 90 percent said the benefits of science outweigh any dangers, and about the same number expressed interest in learning about medical discoveries.

Republicans Are Also Benefiting From The Success Of Obamacare–And Some Now Love It

As I noted yesterday, with the tremendous success of the Affordable Care Act, even some Republicans who voted against Barack Obama are seeing the benefits of Obamacare and are finding reasons to love it. Republicans have frequently cited horror stories, except that the facts turn out to be different than they claim whenever a reporter goes to the effort to fact check. It is good that we are seeing more true stories about the Affordable Care Act from Republicans who love Obamacare. This story started with the example of Irene Jacusis who did not vote for Obama but does not agree with Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare:

She says her husband Ronald died last year from a rare sarcoma because he waited too long to see a doctor after he felt a lump.

“If my husband had gone, if he had insurance at the time, when it was the size of a marble and had gotten an x-ray and taken care of it at stage 1 level, he would be alive today.”

Another Republican who wants to keep the Affordable Care Act is Mary Fallon of St. Petersburg. She was a teacher for many years, but because she was paid from grant funds she didn’t qualify for health insurance. She had to buy her own policy, but then she got sick. Hello, pre-existing condition.

She was between “a rock and a hard place. If I canceled my insurance, I was uninsurable.”

If she dropped the policy and got sick, she could lose everything.

“By the time I canceled my policy I was up to $768 a month, so what is that, almost 10 grand a year? With $5,000 deductible. Do the math.”

Then came the Affordable Care Act and Healthcare.gov. After running into glitches, Fallon found her way to Johnnie Ruth Clarke health center in St. Petersburg. And a navigator, Johanna Santiago.

“In a half hour she had my account set up, and I had a confirmation, a password, a login, and I was good to go,” said Fallon, 49. “This was December and I cried. I just held my hands up in the air. Thank you, god. Finally, some relief. I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Now her premium is $150 a month, she said. Her deductible is only one-third as much as it used to be.

“ I have dental insurance!” she said in wonder. “And all the doctors that I do see, my dentist, my GYN, for a whole year I’m paying less than I paid per month.”

Fallon says she thinks the Affordable Care Act will help the economy. “The difference is now I can take the money that was going to that one insurance premium and I can go to the hair stylist,I can get my house repaired. I’m spending money in my community. This is going to be a ripple effect, this is going to restart the economic engine. We have been so enslaved by the health insurance system.”

This is what I am actually seeing in my practice under the Affordable Care Act. I also have patients with chronic medical problems who previously were unable to obtain health care coverage due to problems including pre-existing conditions, inability to afford care, and in one case a patient losing her health care coverage when her husband retired. As of January these, and many more people, are receiving coverage they can afford. The Affordable Care Act solves the problems of denial because of pre-existing conditions, premiums people cannot afford, and the “insurance trap” which forces people to remain in jobs purely in order to receive health care coverage.

As Mary Fallon pointed out, the Affordable Care Act will help the economy. The Congressional Budget Office Report, frequently distorted by Republicans, shows that the Affordable Care Act will reduce unemployment, help decrease the deficit, and allow more people to leave large corporations to start small businesses. The effects of this freedom from the “insurance trap” cannot be scored in a CBO report, but should provide a tremendous boost to the economy.