MEDICARE

Stability and Security

Medicare has provided Oregon seniors and vulnerable families with the security and peace of mind of knowing that health coverage will be there for them.  Since seniors have both paid into the system throughout their working life and contribute to their premiums and co-payments, the system has been largely self-financed.  Our rapidly aging population and excessive health care inflation, however, have created real uncertainty about the program’s sustainability.

Two plans have taken shape in Washington, DC about the future of Medicare.

The “no action” plan: The first plan is to allow the system to continue on its current course while cutting $500 billion over the next ten years and allocating that savings to President Obama’s signature health care law.  The cuts largely come out of a program called Medicare Advantage, which is an alternative to traditional fee-for-service Medicare.  In Oregon, over 243,000 seniors have chosen Medicare Advantage for their health care.  It is estimated that these cuts will force nearly half of Oregon’s seniors who’ve selected this option back onto fee-for-service Medicare.  This plan would also rely on Medicare’s existing revenue structure, which the President’s bipartisan actuaries and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office tell us will not be enough to cover Medicare’s costs by the end of this decade.  The result will be catastrophic cuts and premium increases that will harm seniors and, over time, cause an end to the system as we know it today.  I cannot support this plan of “no action”.

Reform for the next generation: The second plan is to try to find solutions that will safeguard Medicare for those currently in the system or nearing retirement age, while finding reforms that will ensure it is financially healthy for the next generation to retire.  If the alternative is a plan that calls for letting Medicare go bankrupt, as the experts suggest, then anybody interested in preserving health care for seniors needs to be open to reform for the next generation of retirees.  I support preserving the safety net of health care for seniors, particularly those who lack the means to access health insurance anywhere else.

If we want a financially healthy system that will care for our aging population, we must get serious about reform now.  An issue of this magnitude requires less talk and more action.  I look forward to being a part of constructive solutions.  Since it took a long time to get into this precarious position, it will take careful planning to resolve the issue and build a system that is fair and sustainable for future generations.

Click here to return to the issues page.