As a donor-based organization Health Rising really, really does not like to delve into partisan political matters (and it probably shouldn’t :)). Every now and then something calls forth a step into dangerous waters. That something this time is the American Health Care Act or AHCA passed by the house to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
The question before the chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia communities is what impact it may have on their ability to get affordable health care. As with any bill there are winners and losers.
The winners of the AHCA? Not people with pre-existing conditions…
Because the bill passed before the Congressional Budget Office had a chance to analyze it (or even before many members had the opportunity to read it) a complete analysis of the bill is impossible. (The CBO will weigh in in a couple of weeks.)
The Upshot at the New York Times, however, is known for its objective, fact-based approach to issues. Fiercely data-driven, it replaced the void created when Nate Silver left to create the 538 site which specializes in statistically driven analyses.
Surprise Loser – the CDC’s Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Program
The Upshot’s calculus of the American Health Care Act’s winners and losers didn’t include the big shock for the chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) community – the (surely unintentional) zeroing out of the Center for Disease Control’s funding for its ME/CFS program. That occurred, Emily Taylor of The Solve ME/CFS Initiative (SMCI) reported, when the bill completely eliminated The Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) created by the Affordable Health Care Act to enhance efforts to prevent illnesses before they start. The program also helps people with chronic illnesses to manage their illnesses better.
Somehow funding for the CDC’s program on ME/CFS – which was initiated during a time when it appeared that ME/CFS was an infectious disease – got placed in that fund. If the American Health Care Act passes in its current form, the CDC’s ME/CFS program is toast, according to The Solve ME/CFS Initiative’s Action Alert.
Other Winners and Losers
The Winners
According to the Upshot, the bill’s winners include:
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The biggest winners? The already wealthy.
The Wealthy – because the bill eliminates two taxes on high wage earners (0.9% increase on Medicare payroll tax; 3.9% tax on investment income) – the wealthier among us will benefit the most. (Editorial: Do the wealthy really need MORE money? The wealthy have only gotten wealthier since the great recession; the top 1% own about a third of the countries wealth and the top 20% own almost 90% of the wealth of this country. Warren Buffet, considered the greatest investor of modern times and the second wealthiest man in the U.S., called the AHCA a giveaway to the wealthy. (He also called the enormous healthcare costs facing the U.S. the “tapeworm of the U.S. economy)
- Healthy People with Higher Incomes – the AHCA greatly increases the amount of subsidies it pays to higher income people for health care. President Obama’s Affordable Care Act cut off subsidies to people making greater than $49,000 a year. The AHCA provides subsidies for wage earners making up to $150,000 a year.
- Younger Healthy People – would probably see reductions in their insurance costs because the AHCA would allow them to buy plans that provide less coverage.
- Large Employers and People Who Want Cheaper Policies – Large employers would no longer be required to provide insurance for their employees and insurance companies would be allowed to offer plans with higher deductibles and fewer benefits.
- People Who Don’t Want to Buy Health Insurance – the penalties for not buying health insurance would cease. Because this category mostly involves young, healthy people – who essentially pay for the care of unhealthy people – how to pay for the care of unhealthy people becomes problematic. Equally problematic is the future of the young, healthy people – who will inevitably become ill themselves.
The Losers
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The biggest losers – sick people and the less well-off… & the CDC’s ME/CFS program.
The Poor – substantial rollbacks in Medicaid will make it impossible for many of the poor to afford healthcare. Further, substantial deductions in the amount of subsidies given to the working poor will mean workers without insurance of any kind and those that do get health insurance will have to devote a larger portion of their income to it.
- Older People – Insurance companies will be given increased leeway to raise their rates by as much as five times for older people. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that many older Americans would drop out of the health insurance market as a result.
- People with Pre-existing Conditions – Because the bill allows states to waive regulations that prohibit insurance companies from raising their rates for people with serious or even minor pre-existing conditions – insurance rates for those with pre-existing illnesses could rise dramatically. Plus, insurance companies could offer plans that provide benefits for every condition; i.e. a person with FM might not be able to see a rheumatologist or a person with cancer might not get assistance with chemotherapy.
One Upshot analysis concluded:
“The mix of policies could allow insurance companies to charge sick people prices that few of them could pay. And it could allow them to exclude benefits that many healthy people need when they get sick. The result could be a world where people with pre-existing conditions would struggle to buy comprehensive health insurance — just like before Obamacare.”
What kind (if any) health insurance do you have? Take the Poll.
My status with regards to health insurance is....
Conclusion
The AHCA as it now stands has the potential to negatively affect people with ME/CFS/FM in a number of ways. While it’s a boon to wealthier Americans in better health, it appears to be particularly bad news for the less well-off who have health issues (and to older Americans) – a category that probably includes many people with ME/CFS/FM. Plus the bill as it stands wipes out funding for the CDC’s ME/CFS program which is in the midst of a groundbreaking multi-site study of ME/CFS doctors and patients.
People in the lower income categories will see large reductions in Medicaid or health care subsidies. The substantial roll-backs will, ironically, leave Americans with the least money with less ability to get health care. Others will simply get kicked out of the health insurance market altogether. Older Americans not receiving Medicare will likely see such increased insurance premiums that the CBO believes many will leave the health insurance market altogether. (I’m in this category.)
Plus states’ ability to waive regulations that prohibit raising insurance rates for pre-existing illnesses would probably cause health insurance rates for the ill to rise substantially. Insurance companies’ ability to produce less comprehensive plans in some states could result in consumers not receiving coverage for their illnesses at all.
Given these caveats, it’s no surprise to see major disease support groups including the American Heart and Lung Associations come out strongly against the AHCA. Calling the bill a patchwork effort, the support groups stated the bill would leave millions of patients “at risk of not being able to access life-saving treatments and care.” “There is no substitute”, they said, “for fundamental, unequivocal protections for people with pre-existing conditions.” The AHCA, they asserted, “would undermine vital safeguards against being charged more for insurance based on health status.”
It would also “include(e) many low-income and disabled individuals who rely on Medicaid—and increase out-of-pocket costs for the sickest and oldest among us.”
The disease groups were joined by virtually every major healthcare stakeholder – from the to the American Association of Retired Persons in denouncing the bill. The AARP estimated that the premiums for a 64-year old making $26,000 would rise by $12,000 a year to almost $15K a year.)
Significant problems with President Obama’s Affordable Care Act exist and need to be resolved, but the inescapable conclusion for people with chronic illnesses is that the AHCA is not the way to fix it. The Bill moves onto the Senate which has promised to essentially start over.
The Bill moves onto the Senate where Majority Leader McConnell has convened a committee that contained some of the most notable hard-liners such as Ted Cruz while failing to include prominent moderates. Cruz even suggested that the group could make the bill more restrictive than it is.
If you’re worried about this bill please contact your Senator and make your concerns known.
A Sample Letter:
Dear Senator
As someone with a pre-existing illness called chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) I have several concerns. For one, the AHCA, by zeroing out funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF), eliminates the Center for Disease Control’s chronic fatigue syndrome program. That program is currently in the midst of producing ground-breaking results – which have been years in the making – on the effectiveness of treatments for people with ME/CFS. It would be a tragedy if the CDC’s research program on ME/CFS became a victim of the health care insurance debate
I also cannot support any health care bill which does not include protections that ensure that my insurance premiums will not become unsustainable.
I did not choose to be sick. I would not wish this or any other illness on anyone but to have to be ill – and be penalized for being ill – is beyond the pale. There must be a better way.
Surely you must understand the loss of opportunity and financial resources that comes with having a chronic illness. To go back to the days where I and others are effectively penalized for being ill with catastrophic insurance premiums at precisely the time when we don’t have the finances to cover them, is simply cruel.
As such, ensuring that people with pre-existing illnesses are not penalized is a key issue with me and many others. Please reject the attempt to create high-risk pools which have failed miserably in the past. Please also reject any attempt to penalize poor working people who can’t afford health insurance by doing away with their support or by restricting their access Medicaid.
I and many others including many disease support groups, the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and virtually every major stakeholder in health care urge you to reject the AHCA and create a bill that protects people with pre-existing illnesses and the less well-off among us.
Thanks for your time,
Find out how to contact your Senator here.
Terrifying stuff. Thanks for sounding the alert–I will contact my representatives today.
I have paid for health insurance since I was 18 years old, either through an employer, or, as my CFS and Fibromyalgia (particularly CFS) made it impossible to hold down a full-time job, by paying very high rates to buy private insurance, made possible by the ACA. Now, at age 63, I will be unable to purchase health insurance in my state–Iowa–because the providers are pulling out of the market. I was buying my insurance with income I generate by working from home, because I did not want to apply for disability or Medicaid, preferring to be as self-sufficient as possible. My poor health makes it impossible to get insurance through an employer, and now, at 63, I’m faced with having no insurance, in spite of paying dearly for insurance for 45 years.
Really difficult situation Kris…If insurers pulled out of Iowa because of problems with the ACA – it needed to be fixed. Given how complex and how large the medical system is in the U.S. I would have been shocked if problems with the ACA didn’t occur. How likely is it that it wouldn’t have to be tweaked at some point? There was never an attempt to fix it, until now. We shall see what happens.
I cannot imagine the Senate not taking their time to fix many of the identified problems with the version that the House passed. I also can see that the ACA is rapidly failing… the benefits came first (making it somewhat popular), but the costs were designed to kick in later. That is this year and next. I’m skeptical of both the NYTs and AARP who were big supporters of the ACA. I’ll give the Senate a chance. I have had FMS for about 35 years now, and have survived 4 different types of cancer. I understand health costs. I’m not going to overreact to the TIMES analysis. We all know that the AHCA will be significantly modified from its current version before the president signs it. I’ll call my Senators with any concerns that I have with the PROPOSED AHCA. Keep the faith and don’t believe everything that you read! God bless us all. Thanks Cort for your support and great attitude!
Thanks for your thoughts Mark. I sincerely hope that you are right. I am not tied to Obamacare – I believe better solutions are available and some of them include more free market options. I think the Senate can come with a better plan that builds on the strengths of Obamacare and fixes its weaknesses. Time will tell.
According to this piece – again by the NYTimes 🙂 – the Affordable Care Act has stabilized – https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/upshot/obamacare-isnt-in-a-death-spiral-its-replacement-probably-wont-be-either.html
The CBO report will be interesting. They don’t get it right all the time but they are our best objective source of information.
Many of the problems with the ACA were worsened by states that did not participate in Medicaid. If all the states had cooperated with the implementation of the ACA as it was written, there would still be problems, as there are with any new program or law, but they would have been more manageable. Political partisanship hurt us. If there had been cooperation, we would have been working on the fixes by now. It’s important to let your representatives know how you feel and what you are thinking. They are supposed to work for all of us, not just the wealthiest among us.
Thank you for your support!
Those of us living in countries where healthcare means healthcare for everyone can’t get our heads around the USA system. Trump complimented Australia on its Universal Health care system – 100% coverage at 1/2 the price. Recently, a few tweaks and penalties for not insuring privately have been introduced…many are scared of any move towards a corporate profit designed system. There is still private insurance for anyone who wants it, still private hospitals, plenty of insurers, so their is obviously plenty of money to be made. It seems odd and inhumane to call a system healthcare when in reality it appears to be a tax payer subsidised system to provide for the wealthy and employed.
The measure of a society is how it looks after its ill and vulnerable. The USA has amazing health at the cutting edge but such a horrendous place for chronic illness, disability, the working poor and those unable to work.
Other priorities than getting people health insurance are in play. Cutting taxes (mostly for the wealthy…again!), ensuring that no one is required to have insurance, keeping government small and “off the backs” of taxpayers, reducing regulations in the name of the free market – these are all powerful beliefs and desires that trump the moral imperative (for me) of ensuring that everybody can see a doctor and get help when they are sick.
Take the hated individual mandate. The fact is that it’s impossible, given the horrendous costs of health care today, for the ill to bear the burden of paying for them. That means that – as with every insurance plan on the planet – the healthy, the people who don’t get in car accidents, or die early, etc. etc, pay for those who do get sick, who smash up their cars, or die early.
The present plan says we’ll create high-risk pools -and there will be no individual mandate!, but guess who’s paying the money to create those high-risk pools? The taxpayers are (and because high-risk pools are inherently very costly, they’ll be paying a lot more for them (unless you do the trick at this bill does of underfunding the high-risk pools.)
One way or another the healthy have to pay for the unhealthy. That’s the way it’s always been done; the young have always taken care of their elders as their health declined – until now! Our society is so fragmented and riven by arguments that many young and healthy people aren’t willing to pay into the system to help others. They don’t feel they have a responsibility to do that. Of course that means when they get old and/or sick – there will be nobody for them.
This is not acceptable to me – that in what used to be called the greatest country – research will be cut and vulnerable people left without health care. I have already notified my Senator of my expectation that Americans should get quality care ( like Congress does!) and that needed research not be discontinued in this country. I hope they listen to the voters.
Wow, people seem to have scorn for the Wealthy, but who are the big contributors to Research that has really advanced the ball?
I think the system needs to separate itself from Employer provided. We need fewer regs and laws, they just add to cost.
We need transparency in pricing, which is happening in the truly Free Market, like in Oklahoma. I pay my CFS specialist out of pocket at each visit, and that is under $200 2 times a year. Do you truly get better health care with Health Insurance?
Obamacare was not working, people out of pocket costs were doubled, adding Billions upon Billions to the debt. Thought Democrats were for sustainability? And if you think we are going to get better care than Veterans who have served this country. You are a special kind of stupid 🙂
Sorry, I don’t want the crap care that other patients get for CFS like in countries as Canada and England.
I am all for getting rid of Obamacare (Trumpcare etc..), and really opening up the markets!
I am sure the Feds can do something to help the really sick who never had a chance to start a career etc..
http://kfor.com/2013/07/08/okc-hospital-posting-surgery-prices-online/
The wealthy do contribute but the money they provide can’t begin to compare to the money provided for medical research by the National Institutes of Health. (If they actually control 90% of the wealth of the country or whatever the number is I think they could be doing a whole lot better actually. :)… Put simply the NIH is taxpayer funded; the reason the present administration wants to cut the NIH is because it wants to cut taxes (mostly for the wealthy it appears) and increase defense spending.
I probably get a much better deal than you do with your doctor because insurance gives me access to the top medical technologies in the country. If you had to pay out of pocket for any of them = say for the sleep study my doctor got me in = it would cost over a $1,000. A colonscopy would cost over 3K.
I agree that Obamacare is not working for some. For some people the costs are too high. Others are not finding good option. I’m sure there are many potential fixes such as you have outlined. For me in Nevada, though, I have really good health care at a really good price. Even at my low income can actually afford to see the doctor and get tests done…
By the way, its not scorn for the wealthy at all. It’s alarm that the income inequality in this country is so great at the present time and may be getting greater. That’s not a recipe for a good future for this country.
I would love to see something like Medicare for All or another Universal Health Care scheme. I also think that campaign finance should be uncoupled from corporate donors, who basically are buying favors from Congress. And insurance companies have no business to be middlemen, they just sap extra health care dollars that could be benefiting patients. And the idea of high risk pools without proper funding is like condemning the ill to ‘thrive or die.’ Shameful.
Although I’m more ‘spiritual’ rather than religious, I know many of our Representatives in Congress make a big show of being good Christians, but I wonder at the hypocrisy of their actions when measured by Jesus’ teachings of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Healthcare is not a commodity. We have elected these people to represent us, the citizens, and they have a fiduciary duty to do just that. If they don’t, we have a fiduciary duty to vote them out of office!
Nancy. B, and Health Care is not a right!
All good points, gg.
So what if some people pay in a lot and get little. In any caring society everyone pays acording to ability to look after the less fortunate. Social Welfare is important. I would hate to see our British NHS disappear and leave us with this kind of mess. Why can’t people just care about each other properly. What is wrong with society? It’s all ME ME ME!
Having health insurance has little to do with health care.
I’ve had insurance most of my life and have experienced the pitfalls of the insurance industry with claim denials and limitations. Insurance did cover surgeries and other big expenses which I’m thankful for but, because I have FM/CFS, there has been little to no help for me from our medical system.
I’ve received the best care and a return to health through alternative sources……none of which are covered by insurance. It was expensive but worth every penny to be able to live life again.
I’d like help to pay for whatever provider we chose for our care, not limited to the medical system and pharmaceuticals.
I’d like costs of services to lower. We can pay out of pocket for services like office visits and have insurance to cover just the expensive procedures.
The bill will be changed in the Senate. We don’t know what the final plan will be….why raise fears about what might happen?
I grant that health insurance provides too little help for ME/CFS/FM but you also said that insurance covered your surgeries and “other big expenses” and that “health insurance has little to do with health care”. May I suggest that those two statements are in a little conflict.
Imagine that you had to pay for those surgeries out of pocket or that you had glaucoma and might go blind or couldn’t afford the medication that helped your rheumatoid arthritis because you couldn’t afford to pay for health insurance despite the fact that you’re working full time….
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Congratulations on having the resources and being able to get better from alternative health sources. The problem that alternative health treatments aren’t covered by insurance is a whole other issue but the fact that many can’t afford those options is again the example of the health care inequity present in our society – which is surely exacerbated by the massive income inequity present. (Which the present bill will exacerbate).
Why raise fears about the Senate? Because Senators respond to their constituents; those constituents that take the trouble to present their concerns are most likely to have their concerns addressed….Otherwise other concerns will.
You
I would agree that health insurance is not equal to health care not just because some diseases have been ignored by the research community but also because many health insurance plans have such high cost-sharing (deductibles and coinsurance particularly, but also copays) that bigger expenses like surgery, MRI, seeing a specialist, and some types of medications (like asthma medicine as an example) can be prohibitively expensive.
Even while paying expensive premiums, care can be out of reach. There is something fundamentally wrong with how things are done. I am not sure how to fix it. I guess the people who do know how to fix it are too busy working their regular jobs in the health sector to stop and work out how to get anyone who has the responsibility to make the right changes, and the people with the responsibility do not know what to do.
What angers me is that SO MANY people do not want to include pre-existing conditions becuase they feel they should NOT have to “take care of the sick”. But (and please do not come down on me for this I am just trying to make a point) so many cities are willing to pay for insurance of those that are here illegally or are not working and do not want to get a job. I am 36 and became disabled at the age of 31, this is not something I NEVER planned for. NO ONE does. I fought so hard for my disability, and many of you can understand what I mean when I say that that people looked at me and told me “you don’t look sick”. My disability judge took 5 months and made me come back twice, after getting a special medical examiner to help look over my medical records, before approving my disability. Socail Security ordered me to see specialists over the ENTIRE 3 years I was applying, I saw drs in WA state, OR state including at OSHU (these were on the ordered of Social Security) and I had my drs records. My file was so big they had to role it in, I AM NOT KIDDING!
I never thought I would never work again at such a young age. I NEVER thought I was YOUNG until I became disabled at 31, but then I realized just how young I was, and I realized that just because you are 31 or 19 or 66 a pre-existing condition, disability, or serious illness can HIT YOU AT ANYTIME because it does not discriminate against anyone! But I also realized that there are many people that take advantage of our system too, and that is NOT fair to those of us that truly need it.
I would give ANYTHING to be able to work again, and I am sure that many of you feel that way too. Once you have everything taken away from you, you realize that not being able to get up and go to work sucks! (I used to hate getting up every day, but now I get so lonely, and I would rather have the interaction than be in pain everyday and have the hospitals and pharmacies be more familiar to me than the office).
When I didn’t have an income at all I had to get food stamps and was on Medicaid (I lost all that when I got approved for disability) I saw people that were on food stamps for 6 years! I don’t understand this, I thought that this program was set up to help people get back on their feet, or to help people who could no longer work? This last year, I lost my assistance with my prescriptions. Now this I don’t get either. Social security and DSHS told me I make to much, i get my disability check each month and this is NOTHING! I am broke by the middle of the month! And after they take out my Medicare and my other medical 1/3 of my check is gone. Don’t get my worng I am grateful to get my disability, but I can’t afford to keep up with my drs apps and my prescriptions come to almost $400 a month! Social Security told me I make 400% over poverty level! How the heck is this possible!! I don’t understand! There is no way that is possible, After the accident that left me disabled I lost everything my retirement, my pension, my income, I had to move in with my parents because there are days when I need help. Now before I got my disability DSHS considerd this as. Homeless but now they tell me I need to give at aleast half my income to someone in my house. Well my parents are retired. And they also lost almost everything after my accident. I wasn’t able to work, not to mention the medical bills, the court costs! Don’t EVEN get me started on that (the accident was not my fault)!! I have been trying to file bankruptcy also, but that also costs money! And try finding someone to help with that!
So right now the Unknwon of health care scares the crap out of me, I have great drs now, but I can’t afford the health care I have even on Medicare. I understand that ObamaCare has been great for some people, and I am IN NO WAY undermining that, but we can’t have a one system “fits all” and the new bill that passed the house will kill us. I belive that something needs to be done about prescription drugs for one, but will that ever happen? I also believe that people really need to understand that taking care of our elderly, disabled and veterans is important, why? Because the chance of it happening to them or someone they love is SO HIGH! And ONE day they will be one of the elderly! I never thought I would get sick, and I hear all these people talk about pre-existing conditions and it hurts. I never ASKED to get sick! I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS! And maybe just MAYBE if they spent one day in my shoes they would have some sympathy!
But in truth, I also believe that the government needs to start being more strict on who is on assistance, I’m sorry if that makes some people upset. But if people are able to work, they need to use the system how it was design to work. I understand that people go through hard times, BELIVE me I was there before I got sick, and I WAS THANKFUL that I was able to collect unemployment, but I also looked for a job and got back to work. People being on food stamps for 6 years that are able to work is a little much.
My neighbors are a perfect example, they have a brand new SUV, they just bought their daughter one, and they collect food stamps and both get a check from the government. The reason I know this, is they told my parents, when my dad told them what happened to me. The dad told my dad, the reason I couldn’t get more assistance was because I was white! He told my dad they dont even show proof of residency or work. I don’t know how true that is, but they have lived next door to us for almost 3 years now and they are still collecting. This is the kind of stuff that angers me, and the kind of stuff that keeps people like the elderly, veterans and disabled from getting all the benefits that they should be getting. I’m sorry I don’t mean to offend anyone, I believe EVERYONE deserves a fair chance, I have respect for everyone, and I do not discriminate against anyone. However I also do not think its fair to forget about our elderly, veterans and disabled, we all deserve the same chances and to be able to get food, access to our drs, and healthcare. Thats just how I feel.
I suffer from fibromyalgia, Lupus, MS, Neuropathy, Narcolepsy
Thanks for sharing your story Katy, I worked ill 10 years, worked since I was in my early teens. Starting off with a paper route, grocery store, hardware store etc..
Got a 2 year degree, then 4 year degree. Was ill 5 years after graduating, 3 years into a good paying job, and as I said, worked ill for 10 years and could have easily died at least 2 times falling asleep at the wheel, due to the wear and tear on my body.
The system sucks, I could still give back in a job, just definitely Not full time, and not very reliably, hard way to run a business, and hard to work with people, when you appear so “normal”.
I am currently on the system, waiting upon my disability process, over 3 years now. I have had to resort to Food Stamps, i am actually on the state version of Obamacare.
I am sure I am going to freak out, after 3 years and the reports on how much Costs have risen.
I though most people were for Sustainability, how is this house of cards Sustainable? Is the GOP proposal the solution, probably Not, but perhaps once we get over this hurdle. And Democrats are not so butt hurt on their One Party legislation is cut back, we can figure something out that truly works?!?
Our country is complex, not sure health care really needs to be. The 3rd party system has really distorted prices!
You need to report your neighbors for food stamp fraud. That’s the only way that fraud will stop. Of course, they might feel the same about you — since you don’t look sick.
Food stamps (now SNAP) is a means tested program — with income and asset limits. With the minimum wage being so low many full time workers (and members of the military) qualify for food stamps. Yes, full time worker’s qualify because wages are so low. That’s why people can get food stamps for years because they are stuck in low wage dead end jobs.
Also, many people who have low wages and/or bad credit cannot get approval to lease or buy a “regular” car. It is only the expensive auto makers that will even consider them. That is probably why they drive a Cadillac. I have friends who are working paycheck to paycheck and are in this situation. Judging someone else’s situation without full knowledge is not helpful.
If you are on SSDI, you should qualify for a “Disability” Medicare insurance plan. They are less expensive than many but yes, they still cost money. Your SSDI payment is based on the income you made – should you complain it isn’t enough if those were your earnings? Should I complain because I maxed out the total SSDI and “should get more” because of my earnings? No. I feel empathy for your situation and feel strongly that you should receive a living wage and affordable healthcare. I don’t believe we have to kick anyone out of the country or starve fellow human beings to do that. We can tax wealthier people appropriately to do what is right for all Americans.
It is true that people with disabilities are seen as less than but if we keep trying to find another group to step on, we will never come together as a country to help each other. Speak out, be positive, state your needs clearly and rationally and tell your Congresional representatives that you vote and that you will hold them responsible.
I recently turned 65, and find that Medicare (Blue Cross Advantage Plan) pays for less than my private employer did. (I was able to stay on their plan while on disability but before age 65). For example, private employer pretty plan pretty much had no limit unphysical therapy visits, which help my CFS enormously, but Medicare will only pay for TWO visits because “not indicated for your diagnosis.” Medicare will also not pay for certain off-label prescriptions that private insurance did. Time to get some of these off-label uses officially indicated for CFS
!
I agree this bill sucks, but wanted to point out one aspect isn’t quite as bad as you made it sound: “Insurance companies will be given increased leeway to raise their rates by as much as five times for older people.”
The current law allows a 3x ratio of price differences between the youngest and oldest (pre-Medicare-age) members of a health insurance plan, and this bill would increase that to a 5x ratio. Very different from allowing a 5x increase from current prices.
Agreed! I didn’t realize that the current practice was a 3 time increase. I just learned that yesterday.