Statement of The Honorable Mike Doyle
Health Care Reform For Seniors
July 8, 2010

Thank you.

It’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about how the new health care reform law will affect seniors. I want to thank my good friend Jake Wheatley for inviting me to speak to you.

People have a lot of questions about the new health care reform law.

Those questions often start with “why do we need reform?”

And right after that usually comes “what will it mean for me?”

These are both reasonable questions.

Let me briefly address each of them, and then open things up for questions.

We needed to enact comprehensive reform of our nation’s health care system because medical costs have been rising dramatically faster than inflation. Health care costs have increased by 33 percent over the last 5 years alone, and they’ve doubled over the last 10 years. The average health insurance policy costs nearly $5,000 a year for an individual and nearly $13,000 for a family. Pretty much every plan has significant co-pays and deductibles on top of the premiums as well. A number of experts predict that health insurance premiums will double over the next 10 years. How many families in this country could handle those kinds of medical expenses?

Americans who have health insurance generally receive excellent care.

But more than 45 million Americans have no health insurance, which can limit their access to care and ability to pay for the care they receive. There are 50,000 people in my Congressional District who are currently uninsured – that’s nearly one out of every ten of my constituents.
Many of the uninsured can’t afford health insurance because they have pre-existing conditions or they’ve lost their jobs.

Last year, health care providers in Pittsburgh provided half a billion dollars’ worth of health care to people who had no insurance and couldn’t pay their bills. Those of us with insurance currently pay higher premiums and co-pays to offset health care providers’ costs for treating the uninsured.

Bringing the uninsured into the system will reduce health care costs for all of us. Moreover, millions of Americans are worried about losing their health insurance coverage if they lose their jobs. Millions more are worried about being denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

Nearly 1 in 3 Americans with health insurance are underinsured – and their policies pay so little of their medical bills that they often postpone getting treatment until their condition gets serious.

The United States currently spends far more on health care than other industrialized countries – $2.5 trillion a year, or roughly 1 in every six dollars we spend – and our health care costs will double by the year 2020.

The federal government alone currently spends nearly a trillion dollars on health care, and health care spending threatens to dwarf all other federal spending in a little more than a decade. The status quo is simply not sustainable – not for the government, not for employers, and not for most households. That’s why doing nothing just isn’t an option – and why we need to have a thoughtful debate over the best way to reform our health care system.

And that’s why we had to enact health care reform. Congress worked for over a year to draft a comprehensive health care reform bill, and after a heated debate and some very close votes, the President signed it into law several months ago.

Now let me talk a little about how the new health care reform law will affect you.

Contrary to a lot of rumors out there, the new law gives America’s seniors greater control over their own health care, saves many of them money, improves the quality of health care they receive, and strengthens the Medicare program by adding new benefits and improving the program’s financial health.

First and foremost, I want to emphasize that the new law does nothing to change the basic structure of the Medicare program.

Your guaranteed Medicare benefits will NOT be cut. Medicare will continue to cover your health care costs. There are no changes in Medicare eligibility. Your ability to choose your own health care providers will stay the same. And Medicare patients, in consultation with their doctors, will still decide which medical treatment options to pursue.

Now, however, Medicare will start measuring health care provider outcomes so that Medicare beneficiaries can make more informed choices about which doctors and hospitals to use. Nothing in the new law forces Medicare Advantage companies to stop offering benefits and services. During open enrollment this fall, you will continue to have a choice between a stronger Medicare and Medicare Advantage.

The new law will save seniors money, and you will see some of those improvements right away. The new law makes Prescription Drugs more affordable under Medicare. If you fall into the Medicare Part D prescription drug “donut hole” this year, you will receive a one-time, $250 rebate check this year if you are not already receiving Medicare Extra Help.

Starting next year, seniors in the donut hole will get large discounts on their brand name prescription drugs as the donut hole is phased out completely over the next ten years.

I’ve brought a hand-out that shows exactly what the phase-out will mean for seniors.

It will save millions of seniors thousands of dollars.

In addition, the new law improves existing Medicare benefits and creates new ones to help you stay healthy.

Starting in January, you will get preventive care services (like screenings for cancer and diabetes) for free.

You won’t have co-pays or deductibles for them anymore.

You will also be able to get a free annual “wellness check-up” with your doctor where the two of you can plan for all your health care needs.

The New Law Helps Early Retirees as well – especially those who are still too young for Medicare. The new law provides assistance to employers to encourage them to preserve employer-based retiree health plans. Health care reform helps people who retire between the ages of 55 and 64 get the affordable health insurance they need, even if they have pre-existing conditions.

But the new law doesn’t just establish or expand Medicare benefits. Seniors on Medicare will get better care as well. The new law gives health care providers financial incentives to improve the quality of care they give you. The law encourages health care providers to coordinate patient care and connect you to the services and support you need, especially those needed to keep chronic diseases like diabetes under control.

The new law will strengthen Medicare and protect your Medicare benefits in the coming years. It does so by enacting reforms that eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare system. Much of the money comes from ending overpayments to insurance companies that administer Medicare.

I think you’ll be pleased to know that the savings don’t come from cutting payments to doctors and other health care providers.

As a result of these reforms, more money will be available to provide care for Medicare patients, and the financial health of Medicare will be significantly improved. By cracking down on waste and fraud, for example, these reforms will save the Medicare program hundreds of billions of dollars and extend the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by 12 years.

The health care reform law will also save Medicare beneficiaries money in the coming years. The White House estimates that In 2018, for example, seniors can expect savings on average of almost $200 per year in premiums and over $200 per year in co-insurance payments compared to what they would have paid without the new law.

I think that’s pretty good news.

The Department of Health and Human Services recently began sending a brochure to every senior, and many of you may have already received it. It provides a pretty good summary of what health care reform will mean for you. I’ve brought copies of it today for those of you who for some reason haven’t received it yet.

I wanted to caution you and your friends to be careful about people trying to use the changes in Medicare to scam you and steal your money or your financial information. Criminals have already started calling senior citizens and asking them for their personal information, saying that they need this information to get them their $250 rebate check.

THIS IS NOT TRUE.

If you qualify for the $250 rebate, it will be sent to you.

You don’t have to do anything in order to receive it, and you don’t have to fill out an application form.

Scam artists are already taking advantage circulating bogus ‘application forms’ that solicit personal information such as Medicare numbers.

They’re not trying to help you – they’re trying to steal your financial information. Don’t give your personal Medicare information to anyone who isn’t a trusted source. Call 1-800-MEDICARE or go on-line to www.medicare.gov if you have any questions or concerns or if you want to report something that seems like fraud. If you really think that for some reason you haven’t received the money you’re due, contact my office at 412-241-6055 and my staff will be happy to look into it.

And if you would indulge me, if what I’ve said about the great things this healthcare law does for Medicare doesn’t cause you believe I am fighting for you, I want you to know I have strongly supported the Medicare program in its original form throughout my service in Congress, and I will continue to do so. I also support Medicare Advantage programs that are able to provide all of Medicare’s guaranteed benefits as well as additional health and wellness benefits paid for with savings that private insurers have achieved by increased efficiencies.

Now some Republicans in Congress have proposed phasing out the original Medicare program as we know it today and replacing it for future generations with a voucher program in which seniors would be given a voucher and left to shop for health insurance from private insurance companies. To add insult to injury, the value of these vouchers is expected to drop in the face of increasing health care costs – eventually shifting most of the cost of older Americans’ health care from the government to individuals. I find this abandonment of future generations completely outrageous and irresponsible. I will do every possible thing I can to oppose any such a proposal.

I promise both senior citizens and younger Americans that I will work to preserve Medicare in its original form for current and future generations – and that I will work hard to ensure that all Americans, regardless of age, are guaranteed affordable high quality health care. Waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and other government health care programs raise health care costs for seniors and damage the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund. As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I have been actively involved in Congressional efforts to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. For example, Congress recently enacted legislation I helped draft that contained over 30 new measures to help federal investigators find and crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid. I am wholeheartedly committed to continuing to develop effective ways to combat waste fraud and abuse in these important health care programs.

I strongly believe that senior citizens (and for that matter, all Americans) should have the right to choose their own doctors. I have consistently supported legislation to guarantee seniors the right to choose their own doctors. But that right will mean a lot less if the doctors seniors wish to see drop out of the Medicare program because the amount Medicare pays them doesn’t fairly compensate them for their service. Consequently, I have consistently supported Congressional efforts to enact a permanent “doc fix” – legislation to fix the formula used to determine how much doctors will be paid for the health care they provide to Medicare beneficiaries – and I will continue to do so. I have also supported legislation to increase the number of doctors and other health care providers serving seniors and medically underserved communities like inner-city neighborhoods.

As you can see, I am all about Medicare and making sure you get what you need to live a healthy life, and will fight for you any chance I get. I thank you for listening, and if you happen to have any questions, I’d be happy to take them.?

Let me end my remarks now and take any questions or comments that you all may have.

I appreciate this opportunity to tell you a little about the new health care reform law’s impact on seniors.

Thank you.