about this medicare bill

[salin]

missed some of the discussions... have had some lingering thoughts/questions and thought this would be the place to find some informed responses or be directed to a source that might have answers.

Early in the game, the GOP wanted to tie the drug benefit to agreeing to use private companies for services. Is this still a part of the bill? Are the private services for all medicare coverage or just for the drug benefit?

Can these companies screen who they will take? If so - doesn't that give them the healthiest (lowest cost) to cover - and leave the remaining system with the most expensive to cover?

If only those who go with a private carrier can get the benefit (still not clear that this is the case) - and a person is denied coverage by all private carriers... are they not eligible for the prescription coverage?

Finally can the private carriers play the common insurance game of only covering NEW problems and not granting coverage to "preexisting conditions"?

These questions have been kicking around in my head - but most articles generally just talk about the $ amount of coverage not the configuration and/or details of that coverage.

Thanks for the information discussion.

[leftyandproud]

1. basically..

they are putting private competition into the system...they let seniors have a subsidy that can be used to purchase a variety of private plans, OR they can forgo the subsidy and stick with the traditional medicare plan with an added drug benefit. You pay premiums and deductibles either way...but basically it lets seniors opt out of medicare and go with an HMO with their subsidy...which is a bad thing, because it weakens the system.

[salin]

2. but here is the financial rub

are those companies that can "compete" for medicare business (ala subsidies) able to cherry pick the healthiest of customers... leaving the most costly patients/citizens on medicare which will have less operating $ due to the subsidies (previously part of the budget) going outside of medicare?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. That is part of the bill as I understand it

Public Citizen has a huge section on this bill but I only began but haven't completed reading it. It actually PRECLUDES companies from negotiating for cheaper drugs as well.

[salin]

5. I should have thought of checking public citizen

will have to do that over the holidays.

[Cleita]

3. Here's some informative links from today's LA Times.

You have to register but it's free.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-medicare26nov26,1,3247235.story?coll=la-home-headlines

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-policy26nov26,1,6849414.story?coll=la-home-headlines

The latter agrees that it is an experiment in putting Medicare in the private health care marketplace.

[theoceansnerves]

6. some more info

there's some more information here:

http://www.commondreams.org/news2003/1125-04.htm

[Don_G]

7. Another Thing

The Dept of HSS will not be able to negoatiate a volume discount on the purchase of prescription medication like the VA or Inurance companies can. The Federal Government is locked into paying whatever the Drug Industry cares to ask.

[salin]

8. corporate socialism - no question about it

use taxes (socialized costs) to benefit and leverage monopolistic benefits of chosen large corporations.