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United States
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AARP
AARP
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The power to make it better
The power to make it better
AARP's SHAARP Session blog dispels common health reform mythsAARP Florida endorses House health-reform legislation
AARP Florida State Director Lori Parham
issued this statement Thursday, Nov. 5.
Today AARP announces it is endorsing the
Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) and the
accompanying Medicare physician payment fix (H.R. 3961). We are
fighting for these bills because they would keep Medicare strong, ensure Medicare
beneficiaries have access to their doctors, end insurer
discrimination against older Americans, and help make health
coverage more affordable for Floridians age 50 to 64.
Americans of all generations have
debated the health-reform issue heatedly this year, but for AARP,
only one thing matters: How health-reform legislation would
affect our nearly 3 million members across Florida.
And there, our bottom line boils down to
this: Older Floridians win with the Affordable Health Care for
America Act. They too often lose with today’s broken
health system. This legislation would provide peace of mind for
millions of older Floridians who are only one serious illness away
from crushing health costs, and it would be a huge help to the
hundreds of thousands of Floridians 50+ already struggling with
health-care issues.
Parham cited specific benefits
that older Floridians would see. The legislation would:
- Protect and strengthen Medicare for today’s seniors and future generations.
- Ensure seniors can see the doctor of their choice and receive needed treatment by improving Medicare’s payments to doctors. If Congress does not take action, physicians nationwide will see a 21-percent reduction in Medicare reimbursements in January 2010.
- Lower sky-high drug costs for seniors by allowing the government to negotiate with drug companies for lower drug prices in Medicare; provide strong, immediate discounts on name-brand prescription drugs for those in the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole,” and close the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” completely over time.
- Reduce waste, inefficiency, fraud and abuse in the Medicare program. H.R. 3962 increases federal resources to prosecute Medicare fraudsters and provides new penalties.
- Provide affordable health insurance options for Floridians age 50-64 who don’t have health coverage. An estimated 600,000 Floridians in this age group lack health coverage, and one in four Floridians age 60 or older is rejected for health coverage if he or she has no health coverage on the job.
- Require Medicare and insurance companies to provide for important preventive services like screenings for diabetes, cancer and osteoporosis free of charge.
- Prevent insurers from denying affordable coverage to anyone because of their age or because of “pre-existing conditions.” The legislation allows insurers to charge older Floridians no more than twice as much as younger people for the same coverage. Current law allows insurers to charge seniors seven times as much.
- Limit how much your health insurance company can make you pay out-of-pocket. Currently, more than half of all bankruptcies in Florida are caused by high health costs.
- Provide benefits to help seniors and people with disabilities live in their own homes and communities.
AARP Florida members,
volunteers and staff will be reaching out to members of Congress,
asking them to support this important legislation. For more
information, please go to www.healthactionnow.org or
www.aarp.org/fl
.
psarames says:
Please be advised that in my opinion AARP no longer represents the best interests of seniors. What are you getting out of endorcing of this 1900 page joke? One thing you will no longer be getting is my dues - why belong to an organization that no longer represents my best interests? I will be cancelling my membership!
Posted: November 5, 2009 12:34PM EST
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Added: Nov 5, 2009
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