Please share your personal experience to help the media and policymakers understand the importance of your coordinated healthcare services.
Please do not let this type of healthcare disappear
“Please take a hard long look at the advantages of Medicare Advantage Plans (HMO's). I have worked for a large Medicare Advantage Plan for over 14 years. I have personally seen MANY seniors helped by providing "pro-active" care. Annual Physicals, Health Club Gym Membership, Gate Keeper Primary Care Physicians. The PCP's get all the records from all the specialists and know which medications and treatments the patient is getting. This prevents duplicate care and mixing of medications that could cause major problems. The costs are affordable for a senior on a fixed income and they see a doctor when they need to... not waiting until it is necessary to go to ER, which is much more expensive. These Insurance companies have had many years to learn how to do it right and I believe we do. Please do not let this type of healthcare disappear. I am available to talk to anyone regarding this issue.”
ACOs
“The ACOs have a proven track record of success here in California!!!”
If didn't have Medicare Advantage...
“My only income is $14,000 a year from social security. If I didn't have Medicare Advantage I would be dead right now. I am 80 and have survived cancer twice because of my Medicare Advantage. Any new healthcare reform is supposed to help people, not to deprive them of what they already have.”
Please keep this in tact for us
“I have worked hard all my life and contributed in a positive way to our society. I'm hoping that in the coming years I can continue to rely on the quality medical coverage I get through Medicare. Without Medicare I would have no health coverage at all. Please keep this in tact for us.”
Medicare Advantage is the only way so far to control costs
“As a physician it is critical that reform is initiated and Medicare Advantage is the only way so far to control costs.”
Please find another way to adapt to the budget cuts
“I am an employee of Binger Nursing Home and am very concerned about the proposed Medicaid cuts. If this happens, it is very likely that our wagers will be cut back to minimum wage, and our paid holidays and paid vacation taken away. These are the only benefits we have. Plus our residents might be forced to be without needed supplies because there is not enough money to purchase them.
Please find another way to adapt to the budget cuts without cutting funding to the nursing homes. If our nursing home closes I will be UN-employed and probably depending on Medicaid to pay my bills. How can cutting back funding for one state agency help when the emergency and food stamps increase because of those cuts?
Thank You for taking the time to read this letter. I am depending on you to find another way and not cut nursing home rates.”
Please listen
“Please listen to the people you work for. We know what is best for us. We paid our taxes and supported this country. It is our turn to collect what we paid for in our taxes.”
I will not be able to keep my practice open
“I will not be able to keep my practice open if we don't stop the Medicare cut. I serve a big Hispanic community in San Jose, California. Thank you.”
Eliminating the Medicare Advantage program is the wrong way to make healthcare reductions
“Eliminating the Medicare Advantage program is the wrong way to make healthcare reductions. It is a vital program that ensures coordinated healthcare for seniors through their healthcare provider. My Blue Cross of Oregon plan is reasonably priced. The government should stay out of medical decisions between the patient and physician.”
What happens to those of us who are on Medicare?
“What happens to those of us who are on Medicare? I am one who has such low income that I do not pay the premium or for drugs that are so vital to me. What happens to me if your take away our Medicare? We would not be able to pay for anything.”
Please STOP THIS ASAP
“I am a south Florida physician and Medicare cuts will cripple my practice. I will no longer be able to see Medicare patients which are a majority of many practices in South Florida . Please STOP THIS ASAP”
Abolishing the Medicare Advantage Plan will put undue hardship us
“Abolishing the Medicare Advantage Plan will put undue hardship on the very people we are supposed to be helping. Any senior living on social security alone cannot afford the monthly premium of a supplement plan plus the cost of part D.”
Please keep our Medicare coverage, the way it is
“Please keep our Medicare coverage, the way it is. It is not right, that, after we worked all our young adult life, now, being older you mess with our health insurance.”
No cuts to the existing healthcare from government
“We desperately need healthcare reform but not cuts to the existing healthcare from government (Medicare and Medicaid). Please quit arguing and just come up with a bill...even if it needs to be redone later.”
I need my Medicare Advantage plan rates
“Please, please do NOT vote to pass any health care "reform" bill that will make Medicare cuts. I need my Medicare Advantage plan rates. I will not vote to re-elect anyone who cuts Medicare. The Medicare funds were put there by hard working people like me for my retirement. Why don't you try raising the tax rates on the richest Americans? How about a Value Added Tax. Money to help with new health plans should come from additional taxes, NOT from stealing from the Medicare Fund. This is a VERY dishonest proposal.”
Please do not alter a program that WORKS
“Please do not alter a program that WORKS -that is the Medicare Advantage Plan. We seniors have paid our dues. We have a bone fide contract with America that should be honored. We cannot afford to pay for CO-PAYS out of our SOCIAL SECURITY CHECKS that is for personal survival.”
Please do not cut this program
“I am 78 years old and would not be able to live in my apartment were it not for Medicare Advantage. I would not have the money to pay for both my health care and my rent. Please do not cut this program.”
I urge you to continue Medicare Advantage
“My mother and father, as well as millions of Americans present and future, depend and will depend on this program to have a decent quality of life. I urge you to continue the Medicare Advantage program with no cuts.”
Help the poor seniors in our declining years
“Most of my life I had to go without insurance. Jobs did not offer it. Too costly to purchase it on my own. Now I am not able to work due to old age. My health care costs seems to get higher each year. The last 6 years I've had hospital stays. This was to enable me to walk again. I am also a diabetic. When I need insurance most you are going to kick me in the teeth by destroying what I need the most. Show some smarts, keep the Medicare plan as is. Help the poor seniors in our declining years.”
Please keep Medicare Advantage
“Poor seniors have enough to worry about and now add to their worries that they may lose their Medicare Advantage? THAT’S NOT FAIR. Don’t take away that which has proven to save their loved ones and them. Please keep Medicare Advantage and don’t ration an individual’s health care.”
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Send this website link to your friends, family and co-workers and ask them to write a letter to their Congressional member supporting the coordinated care model within Medicare reform proposals.
Coordinated Care Facts
In 2007, Medicare Advantage saved seniors nearly $90 per month or $1000 per year in out of pocket costs. An estimated savings of approximately $7 billion annually. Additionally, compared to traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans can reduce out-of-pocket costs by up to $4,000 annually for patients with the highest healthcare needs.
- Comprehensive Care: Patients receive integrated treatment plans, and expert case management and disease prevention strategies for the chronically ill.
- Cost-Effective Care: Integrated medical groups are able to support investments in advanced healthcare information technology, tracking patient follow-through on treatment plans and patient outcomes, and helping to uncover health problems before they become catastrophic.
- Accessible Care: Efficiencies within the coordinated care delivery model mean better healthcare for more seniors, including:
• lower out-of-pocket costs
• increased health services such as dental care, vision care and preventive care
• reduced hospitalizations
• increased prescription coverage
• higher overall satisfaction rates
• greater value for the premium dollar than any other healthcare delivery system
What’s At Risk
If Medicare reforms dismantle incentives for coordinated care, seniors will experience significant increases in out of pocket costs - at a time when many seniors have seen their retirement account’s decline by over 40 percent in value — and decreased quality of healthcare.
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