Jeff Stein reports for the Washington Post on health care reform proposals the Biden administration could include in the American Families Plan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is urging President Biden to invest in strengthening the Affordable Care Act. Senator Bernie Sanders wants him to add additional benefits to Medicare and make Medicare available to people 60 and older.
Speaker Pelosi wants the next Congressional legislation to make greater subsidies to people under the Affordable Care Act permanent. In March, Congress expanded subsidies but they are temporary. Her proposal would further entrench for-profit insurers in our health care system.
Senator Sanders wants to shore up .the Medicare benefit package. He wants it to include dental, vision and hearing services. He also wants to lower the age of Medicare eligibility to 60 or 55. These benefits could bring down health care costs substantially for the 23 million people over 6o who are not eligible for Medicare today as well as for the 65 million people with Medicare.
Biden, for his part, should recognize that pumping more money into our nation’s corporate health insurance system is going to drive up costs and keep us from having a sustainable universal health care system. Expanding public health insurance administered directly by the federal government is the only way to get a handle on health care costs and drive health care system improvements.
The Biden administration is working on the American Families Plan. Right now, it appears it will cover child care, anti-poverty programs and health care. It could reduce prescription drug spending by $450 billion over ten years. Senator Sanders wants these savings, which are largely from Medicare, to benefit people with Medicare. Using the money on the ACA or any other health care initiative would take money out of Medicare.
The savings on prescription drug costs should go to helping people with Medicare. The most up-to-date data show that older and disabled Americans suffer deeply as a result of not having comprehensive dental, vision and hearing benefits. Benefits available through Medicare Advantage plans appear to be theoretical and not meaningful. To the extent Medicare Advantage plans offer these benefits, they pay for only a fraction of the cost of treatment. Most people do not have the means to pay the substantial out-of-pocket costs.
Consequently, nearly one in five people with Medicare over 70 have no teeth. An additional one in five of them suffer from tooth decay. Millions of people with Medicare also suffer from untreated severe or profound hearing loss. And millions suffer from lack of vision care. All of these services are prohibitively expensive. Lack of vision, dental and hearing care can lead to depression, increased risk of falls, social isolation, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other co-morbidities.
Whichever direction Biden goes, it will take enormous public pressure for Congress to pass the legislation. It will come after Congress passes an infrastructure package, which also will require a large public push.
Here’s more from Just Care:
Leave a Reply