Napa Valley Register - Thompson Protects Health Care Programs
October 28, 2012
By Carroll Estes
I feel compelled to respond to George Blevins' “Open letter to Rep. Mike Thompson,” from Oct. 16.
As a 74-year-old, I too have been a longtime constituent of Rep. Thompson's congressional district and have spent my entire career in the health care and aging policy field.
As we prepare to go to the polls, I think it is more important than ever that voters get beyond the campaign rhetoric and go straight to the facts.
The truth is that health care reform has not cut one penny from Medicare benefits. Not one. Seniors now receive new benefits, including free preventive screenings and services, annual wellness visits, personalized prevention plans with no out-of-pocket costs, as well as discounts on prescription drugs.
Thanks to health care reform, the Part D drug coverage gap (the “doughnut hole”) will be closed and Medicare's solvency has been extended by eight years. This year, for the first time ever, the Part B deductible decreased from $162 to $140 per year.
Not only did Rep. Thompson support this legislation, he also helped write it and worked hard to improve it as it made its way through Congress. I, for one, am glad he did.
As was clear in Mike Thompson's debate with opponent Randy Loftin, if Loftin and the GOP have their way, health care reform will be repealed, which means that on day one of a Romney administration, not only would all the Medicare benefits I mentioned be lost to seniors, but Medicare's prescription drug and premium costs will increase by hundreds of dollars per year â€" and few can afford that.
We'll also be stuck (again) with the Part D doughnut hole for prescription drugs, and private insurers will get their excessive overpayments restored. Worst of all, Medicare, as we know it, would end â€" replaced by vouchers or coupons for future seniors to shop in the private insurance market. This is Romney's pledge for his first term.
Voters need to know that Mike Thompson has consistently voted against the privatization of Social Security and Medicare and for the protection of these programs for seniors, the disabled, veterans and their survivors.
These are the facts. Facts that District 5 voters should seriously consider before they cast their vote on Nov. 6.
Estes is a founding director and professor at the Institute for Health and Aging, UCSF.
As a 74-year-old, I too have been a longtime constituent of Rep. Thompson's congressional district and have spent my entire career in the health care and aging policy field.
As we prepare to go to the polls, I think it is more important than ever that voters get beyond the campaign rhetoric and go straight to the facts.
The truth is that health care reform has not cut one penny from Medicare benefits. Not one. Seniors now receive new benefits, including free preventive screenings and services, annual wellness visits, personalized prevention plans with no out-of-pocket costs, as well as discounts on prescription drugs.
Thanks to health care reform, the Part D drug coverage gap (the “doughnut hole”) will be closed and Medicare's solvency has been extended by eight years. This year, for the first time ever, the Part B deductible decreased from $162 to $140 per year.
Not only did Rep. Thompson support this legislation, he also helped write it and worked hard to improve it as it made its way through Congress. I, for one, am glad he did.
As was clear in Mike Thompson's debate with opponent Randy Loftin, if Loftin and the GOP have their way, health care reform will be repealed, which means that on day one of a Romney administration, not only would all the Medicare benefits I mentioned be lost to seniors, but Medicare's prescription drug and premium costs will increase by hundreds of dollars per year â€" and few can afford that.
We'll also be stuck (again) with the Part D doughnut hole for prescription drugs, and private insurers will get their excessive overpayments restored. Worst of all, Medicare, as we know it, would end â€" replaced by vouchers or coupons for future seniors to shop in the private insurance market. This is Romney's pledge for his first term.
Voters need to know that Mike Thompson has consistently voted against the privatization of Social Security and Medicare and for the protection of these programs for seniors, the disabled, veterans and their survivors.
These are the facts. Facts that District 5 voters should seriously consider before they cast their vote on Nov. 6.
Estes is a founding director and professor at the Institute for Health and Aging, UCSF.