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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/5/11/135725.shtml?s=ic
Friday, May 11, 2007 1:55 p.m. EDT
Obama Attacks Private Medicare Plans
Democratic hopeful Barack Obama Friday said that if elected president he
will end government subsidies to insurance companies that sell private
Medicare plans using deceptive or illegal means.
Standing on a shuffleboard court at a senior citizen center, the Illinois
senator said Medicare's private plan alternative, Medicare Advantage, was
designed to increase competition and reduce costs.
However, Obama said that the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an
independent group that advises Congress, recently reported that the
government pays an average of 12 percent more to private Medicare plans than
it costs to treat comparable beneficiaries through traditional Medicare.
The subsidies cost as much as $15 billion a year, he said. Cutting that
would provide $150 billion over 10 years to strengthen Medicare and lower
prescription drug prices, he said.
"We don't do that because we are not setting the agenda in Washington -
insurance companies and drug companies are. That's what people want to turn
the page on," he said to loud applause from the crowd of about 100 invited
seniors. "We want a system that's fair and sensible to everyone."
In some cases the plans increase co-payments or reduce health care choices,
he said.
"We shouldn't be rewarding the insurance industry for deceiving and
defrauding our seniors. We should be doing everything we can to stop them,"
he said.
The issue hit home for Dorothy Weathers, 78, of Des Moines, who said she
will support Obama.
She said insurance companies selling the Medicare plans "pounced in on us at
the centers like vultures."
"A lot of us are worse off than we were before. I know I am," she said. "We
can't afford it."
Staffers said the meeting marks a renewed effort to turn the campaign to
smaller, more intimate gatherings where the Obama can personally engage
voters.
Friday, May 11, 2007 1:55 p.m. EDT
Obama Attacks Private Medicare Plans
Democratic hopeful Barack Obama Friday said that if elected president he
will end government subsidies to insurance companies that sell private
Medicare plans using deceptive or illegal means.
Standing on a shuffleboard court at a senior citizen center, the Illinois
senator said Medicare's private plan alternative, Medicare Advantage, was
designed to increase competition and reduce costs.
However, Obama said that the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an
independent group that advises Congress, recently reported that the
government pays an average of 12 percent more to private Medicare plans than
it costs to treat comparable beneficiaries through traditional Medicare.
The subsidies cost as much as $15 billion a year, he said. Cutting that
would provide $150 billion over 10 years to strengthen Medicare and lower
prescription drug prices, he said.
"We don't do that because we are not setting the agenda in Washington -
insurance companies and drug companies are. That's what people want to turn
the page on," he said to loud applause from the crowd of about 100 invited
seniors. "We want a system that's fair and sensible to everyone."
In some cases the plans increase co-payments or reduce health care choices,
he said.
"We shouldn't be rewarding the insurance industry for deceiving and
defrauding our seniors. We should be doing everything we can to stop them,"
he said.
The issue hit home for Dorothy Weathers, 78, of Des Moines, who said she
will support Obama.
She said insurance companies selling the Medicare plans "pounced in on us at
the centers like vultures."
"A lot of us are worse off than we were before. I know I am," she said. "We
can't afford it."
Staffers said the meeting marks a renewed effort to turn the campaign to
smaller, more intimate gatherings where the Obama can personally engage
voters.
