Fight for Young and Old
By William D. Novelli, Chief Executive Officer
September 2007
My Aunt Jay used to say to her nieces and nephews, when she came upon us in a fierce dispute of some kind, "Now, fight nice!"
Aunt Jay should be advising the U.S. Congress. If only they could "fight nice." Gridlock and nasty partisanship have been a defining feature of Washington in recent years, with unfortunate consequences for the citizens (that's us) our elected leaders represent.
It's hard to see Congress and the administration snapping out of this situation anytime soon, but right now would be a very good time. Congress and the president now have an important opportunity to make substantial and lasting progress in fixing health care in America.
Both the Senate and the House have passed legislation that would expand health insurance coverage for children. The Senate bill-passed with bipartisan support-would cover millions more low-income kids than at present, and pay for it with an increase in the federal tobacco tax.
The House bill-approved largely along party lines-would provide health care for even more low-income children than the Senate bill. It would also make needed changes to strengthen the Medicare program and help beneficiaries:
- It helps ensure access to physicians by preventing payment reductions to those who treat Medicare patients-without causing Part B premiums to rise.
- It gives low-income beneficiaries greater access to prescription drugs.
- It expands preventive care services in Medicare.
Many of our members are in MA plans, although far more are in traditional Medicare. We want to be sure everyone in Medicare has good care, but taxpayers simply can't continue the excess payments to MA plans. Such payments raise costs for everybody, regardless of the plan they're in. And they cut years off the solvency of the Medicare trust fund.
Opponents of both bills say they expand insurance for children too much, and some who oppose the House bill say it does so at the expense of older people. But that's not accurate. The Senate bill is fair, and the best way to look at the larger House bill is that it helps kids, Medicare beneficiaries and doctors. And it's opposed by the tobacco and insurance industries. That pretty much says it all.
What happens next? The Senate and House bills go to "conference," where a compromise of some sort will be hammered out. Or not.
We're urging Congress to keep the Medicare reforms-and the expanded coverage for low-income kids-in the legislation the House and Senate negotiate. The issue is complicated by President Bush's threat to veto whatever emerges.
Let your senators and representative know you support both the House and Senate bills, and ask them to include the Medicare reforms in the final bill by calling 1-800-211-0907. Let them know that it's time for our elected leaders to stop pointing fingers and throwing mud at each other and start working together.
If they do, this fall can be a time of long-overdue progress on improving health care for young and old. Our leaders need to do what's right, and we need to watch closely to be sure they do. Just tell them to "fight nice."
To take the Divided We Fail pledge and to tell your story through our "Millions of Voices for Change" campaign, go to www.dividedwefail.org.
