Below is some information on new changes in Medicare costs. As of 2007
return, Medicare costs for Seniors will be based on Adjusted Gross Income. For
those of us with W2Gs pushing up our adjusted gross, even if we are net
losers, this can have a major impact. Unfortunately the 2007 cost is based on our
2005 returns; 2008 will be based on 2006, and so on, so there is nothing we
can do if we had large adjusted grosses! The effect for me will be to stop
playing most $1 and $5 machines to avoid big wins, since my husband is covered
by Medicare.
On link below you can find more information and sign a petition against
this. Unfortunately it was sort of sneaked into legislation on Medicare
prescription drugs, and only now are news articles starting to talk about it.
Please pass this information on to anyone you know who will be affected. It
seems unfair to me to expect Medicare to be a certain cost, pay for it for
many years, only to have it zoom up in cost unexpectedly, just when the huge
Baby Boomer population will be affected. Also hope you'll sign the petition.
···
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If you've read recent editions of The New York Times, Dallas Morning News,
Seattle Times, Rocky Mountain News, Miami Herald, Charlotte Observer, or
dozens of other top newspapers, you're among the more than 12.5 million people
nationwide who have read about our efforts to repeal the means testing of
Medicare.
In case you haven't read them, let me summarize: For the first time since
Medicare's creation 41 years ago, seniors will no longer pay the same amount
for the same services. Premium rates for Part B - which covers doctors' visits,
tests, and outpatient care - will now be determined based on income, or
"means testing." As a result, as many as 2.3 million seniors will see their
premiums as much as quadruple by 2009.
While it may seem fair that higher income seniors pay more than poorer
seniors, the change will create a host of new problems for rich and poor alike,
since wealthy seniors will increasingly abandon Medicare while the oldest and
sickest become stranded in an ever worsening system.
I'm writing to ask your help in two ways:
* Please sign our Petition to Congress Opposing Means Testing for
Medicare Premiums, so we can encourage more members of Congress to fix this
terrible provision. _You can do it online_
(http://www.tscl.org/action/medicaremeanstesting.asp) . Please do it now and encourage your friends and neighbors to
sign it, too. Numbers count.
* Please help us pay for a full-page ad in this Thursday's edition of
Roll Call, the most-read newspaper on Capitol Hill. The ad will cost us about
$9,000.00. Experience has shown this is one of the best ways to get the
immediate attention of Congressional leaders and their staff. You can _contribute
to our efforts online_ (http://www.tscl.org/Newcontent/102570.asp) .
There are two main things you should know about this issue. First, as
healthier and wealthier seniors see their premiums rise - in some cases from $88.50
a month to $395.00 a month by 2009 - they're going to look for a better deal
and simply opt out of Medicare. When that happens, the sickest and oldest
seniors will be the ones left behind in Medicare - and the costs will go up
significantly for them since they are the most expensive people to treat.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an estimated 50,000
will drop Part B next year alone.
Second this isn't really saving any money. According to the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget office, means testing will save barely three-tenths of one
percent of Medicare's total budget over the next ten years. Since there are
such huge budget deficits looming, it's only logical to presume that Congress
will increase the number of people eligible for means testing by lowering the
threshold for who it considers "wealthy." Today the threshold is $80,000 per
year in income. Tomorrow it could be $60,000. Or $40,000. No law prohibits
Congress from changing the rules, and our educated guess is that they will do
so.
So, please, right now, help protect your current and future Medicare
benefits by _signing our petition to Congress_
(http://www.tscl.org/action/medicaremeanstesting.asp) and by _helping to pay for_
(http://www.tscl.org/Newcontent/102570.asp) the full-page ad in Roll Call, and our other public education
and lobbying efforts.
With your help, we'll win this battle for all seniors.
Shannon Benton
Executive Director
TREA Senior Citizens League
TSCL is a nonprofit organization whose members are active senior citizens
concerned about the protection of their Social Security, Medicare, and veteran
or military retiree benefits. We get no government support of any kind.
Please click the following link if you would like to unsubscribe or change
your information: _http://www.tscl.org/Subscription.asp_
(http://www.tscl.org/Subscription.asp)
TREA Senior Citizens League, 909 N. Washington St., #300 Alexandria, VA 22314
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