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Walgreens Wellness Tour Comes to VirginiaVirginia State Director Serves on Panel at Town Hall Meetings
AARP Virginia State Director Bill Kallio fielded questions and explained AARP’s position on health care reform at town hall meetings hosted by Congressman Gerry Connolly.
“While older citizens are the only members of our society who have universal access to health insurance through Medicare, the problems of the entire health care system also threaten the financial stability and viability of Medicare as we move into the future,” Kallio told a crowd of about 300 people in Gainesville on September 2. He also served on a panel at a forum sponsored by Connolly August 25 in Springfield.
Kallio told the group that AARP has not endorsed any of the major bills currently moving through Congress, but that reform is essential. He also addressed some of the myths about health care reform. He pointed out that none of the current proposals cut Medicare benefits, that they are paid for, and that fears of rationing are unfounded.
“There are some real and difficult choices that need to be made as we consider how to best improve our health care system,” he said. “We don’t need to get diverted by misinformation that takes us away from the real issues to be debated.”
He said the cost of keeping the system as it is would be more expensive than fixing it.
“We have to get the job done. The cost of doing nothing is too high,” he said.
The full cost of a family’s health insurance premiums from an employer-sponsored plan is expected to reach $24,000 a year by 2016. Currently such a policy costs about $13,000. Without health reform, the average health insurance deductible is expected to climb to over $2,000 in the next eight years.
As more families face financial struggles, the burden on the health care system will grow, pushing up costs. Each one-percentage point rise in the unemployment rate could cause 1.1 million to become uninsured and Medicaid and SCHIP enrollment to jump by one million, costing taxpayers $3.4 billion.
“AARP is committed to working for comprehensive health care reform in a way that protects and improves Medicare, expands access to the 46 million Americans who do not have health insurance, slows down run away increases in medical costs and improves the quality of care we receive throughout the health care system,” Kallio said.
Kallio encouraged AARP members to visit www.healthactionnow.org to learn more about health care reform, and to be informed before forming an opinion.
“AARP pledges to help you cut through the noise and find the facts about what health care reform means for you and your family,” he said. “I hope you’ll join us in this important American dialogue. Together we have the power to make it better.”
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