Less than six months after ObamaCare became law, President Obama is breaking his promise that, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” According to an announcement made today by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):
- Next year, 1.2 million seniors will be forced out the Medicare Advantage (MA) or Medicare prescription drug plan (Part D) they are currently enrolled in.
- In 2011, 2,300 seniors in Colorado and Utah, who are being forced out of their current MA health plan will no longer have the option of enrolling in an MA plan and will be forced into the government-run Medicare program whether they like it or not.
“CMS is being disingenuous at best by claiming a reduction in premiums without detailing the impact on seniors’ benefits; paying less and getting less is no win for seniors,” said Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), the Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Committee. “The fact that over 1 million seniors are about to lose their current Medicare plan and 2,300 of these displaced seniors will be denied any access to an MA plan next year should serve as a stark warning to every senior about the prospects for their benefits under the Democrats’ health care law.”
As CMS notes, these enrollment changes result from laws passed by Democrats in 2008 (over President Bush’s veto), ObamaCare, and new Obama Administration regulations which have resulted in 298 plans leaving the MA and Part D programs. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg. According to the non-partisan CMS actuaries, the 11 million seniors enrolled in an MA plan will soon receive “less generous benefit packages” as a result of the law’s $200 billion in cuts to their MA benefits over the next 10 years and 7.4 million seniors will either lose or be denied access to an MA plan.
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