HELENA – U.S. Sen. Max Baucus told more than 5,000 Montana seniors who dialed into a conference call Thursday that the health care bill he had a big hand in drafting will help Medicare, not hurt it.
Seniors, like many others, remain confused about the details of the health care bill and what its effect on them will be.
“We hear a lot in the news about what national health reform is and what it isn’t,” Baucus said. “The health reform touches each of us in different ways.”
A recent Associated Press-GfK survey found that that 54 percent of seniors opposed the legislation as it was taking final shape in Congress.
Baucus, seeking to calm fears that cost savings in the program will reduce benefits, said the program benefits will improve — such as by closing Medicare’s prescription coverage gap. Cost-savings being implemented into Medicare largely come through efficiencies that don’t harm benefits, he told the group.
“Medicare benefits will not only be the same, they will be enhanced,” Baucus said. “Medicare benefits are not only untouched with this bill, guaranteed, they are enhanced or improved.”
He told the AARP members that prescription drug costs will be lowered, and there will be better coverage or preventative care like mammograms to help avoid more costly health problems.
Baucus said money is also saved by cutting down on fraud and waste.
Many are still trying to figure out the potential impact of many changes implemented under the reform.
For instance, in Medicare, which covers 46 million seniors and disabled people around the country, cuts are coming to projected payments to insurers, hospitals and other. Medicare spending will continue to grow — but less than otherwise anticipated.
And cuts it makes to private Medicare insurance plans could cause people to leave those plans.
Baucus said even Congress could make some adjustments as provisions are implemented over the next several years. He said it’s even possible, although unlikely, that Congress would again look at bringing back the idea of a so-called “public option” to compete with the private plans.
“There is a lot ahead of us here,” Baucus said. “There are a lot of little areas around the edges that we have to work on.”