Op-Ed: Protecting Seniors' Health Care Choices

Op-Ed

Having traveled around the district for months speaking with folks about health care reform, I think everyone -- doctors, hospitals, patients, insurance companies and seniors -- understand that there must be some shared sacrifice if we are to make health care more affordable and accessible for all. But cutting a Medicare program that not only works but that Western New York seniors rely upon is not the way to real reform.

Today, nearly 11 million seniors nationwide have chosen Medicare Advantage plans as the coverage that best meets their health care needs. By offering comprehensive, coordinated benefits and lower out-of-pocket costs than traditional Medicare, these Medicare Advantage plans have become especially popular in Western New York and rural areas where health access is thin. With 61,000 enrollees, more seniors in the 26th District benefit from Medicare Advantage programs than any other congressional district in New York State.

Medicare Advantage has proved to be an effective program. In 2006, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that Medicare Advantage enrollees saved about $82 a month, on average, compared to beneficiaries in traditional Medicare. In addition, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, seniors using Medicare Advantage have lower hospital readmission rates as a result of better discharge planning and follow-up care.
I believe that reform should protect seniors' health care choices. But the proposals we've seen coming out of Congress include drastic cuts to effective senior health care programs, such as Medicare Advantage, in order to pay for a government run health care system. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, House Democrats' health care plan cuts Medicare Advantage programs by more than $172 billion. Democrats in Congress are trying to have it both ways by proposing cuts in funding while also promising that benefits will remain the same. Even the head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently told senators that under the Democrats' plan, participation in Medicare Advantage would drop by 2.7 million seniors and beneficiaries would see their comprehensive benefits reduced.

We should be fixing what's broken, not breaking what works.

Western New York's seniors deserve real reforms that lower the cost of their health care. I have put forward a proposal -- the Medical Rights and Reform Act -- with a number of common sense initiatives to lower seniors' health care costs without reducing benefits or restricting choices, including:
• Meaningful liability reform to put an end to the costly practice of defensive medicine.
• Accelerating the development of electronic medical records.
• Rooting out waste, fraud and abuse by making the billing process more transparent.
The Medical Rights and Reform Act also includes a provision that guarantees the rights of patients to carry out the decisions of their doctor without delay or denial of care by the government.

We should focus on lowering the cost of health care for all, not reducing benefits or restricting choices for seniors.

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