NEW: Langevin Highlights New Reports about GOP Plan to Cut Medicare
Friday, October 19, 2012
Congressman Jim Langevin, who recently received the endorsement of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM), visited Cranston Senior Center today (photo attached) to continue to stress the importance of keeping our country's promises to our seniors.
In presenting his group's endorsement last week, NCPSSM President and CEO Max Richtman validated Jim's efforts to protect Social Security and Medicare now and for future generations. The group particularly pointed out that Jim fully recognizes "that Medicare is crucial to the health of older Americans, many of whom cannot afford higher out-of-pocket costs that some in Congress are calling for as a way of reducing federal spending while doing nothing to restrain general health care inflation."
In West Warwick, Jim further explained his strong opposition to Republican plans to privatize Medicare and force seniors to pay more for coverage, while highlighting new reports that show the negative impact of this approach on seniors immediately and into the future.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAbout half of our nation's seniors had no health insurance prior to the creation of Medicare, a program that has been highly successful at providing access to quality care," said Langevin. "We must continue to make strides in controlling Medicare costs to maintain our promises to current and future seniors, and I've supported ways to shore up this program by increasing its efficiency. But the solution is certainly not the House Republican 'Ryan" plan that would cut health benefits, forcing seniors to pay thousands of dollars more for health coverage. The Kaiser Family Foundation report released this past week shows that it would subject millions of seniors to higher costs that they can't afford, on top of the immediate impact of the Ryan budget's proposals to increase prescription drug costs and eliminate preventive care benefits."
The new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows the potential effects of a fully-implemented voucher system for Medicare, finding that the majority (59%) of Medicare beneficiaries would be expected to pay higher Medicare premiums than they do under the current program, if they remained in their same plan. That would amount to 25 million seniors if it had been fully implemented in 2010.
Furthermore, an updated analysis of the immediate impact of the Ryan plan on current seniors in Rhode Island's Second Congressional District found that it would:
Increase prescription costs for 7,800 Medicare beneficiaries, forcing them to pay an extra $72 million for drugs over the next decade by reopening the donut hole;
Eliminate new preventive care benefits for 87,000 beneficiaries; and
Place seniors at increased risk of fraud, scams, and elder abuse by cutting as much as $6 billion in funding for federal consumer protection and law enforcement.
Finally, when its voucher program is implemented, the plan would force 87,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Rhode Island's Second District who are currently enrolled in traditional Medicare to pay thousands of dollars more to remain in Medicare.
