Don’t repeal the ACA; protect our seniors

Repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) doesn’t just affect Americans who are currently under 65, it will have a significant impact on seniors, people who are often living on a fixed income.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the ACA would reduce Medicare spending by $350 billion over 10 years by changing how providers are paid. Repealing those provisions would mean increased spending on hospitals, doctors and outpatient services, increasing the portion that beneficiaries pay in premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

Reports from Kaiser, AARP, the National Council on Aging, and the Senior Citizens League illustrate some eye-opening realities seniors would face if Congress actually repeals Obamacare:

▪  Higher deductibles and co-payments for Part A, which last year averaged about $700 per person

▪  Higher premiums for Medicare Advantage policies (Part B)

▪  Loss of free preventative benefits: screenings for breast and colorectal cancer, heart disease and diabetes

▪  Return of the donut hole – the gap in drug coverage, which would be eliminated by 2020 through the ACA.

The loss of Part D donut hole benefits would leave people paying 100 percent of drug costs until the individual has spent a total of $4,950 out of pocket. In 2016, the gap began when enrollees and their insurers have spent $3,310 for medication and ended after they hit $4,850. In Florida, about 344,000 Medicare enrollees hit the coverage gap and received discounts averaging $1,068. These discounts would disappear.

Finally, the Medicare Trust Fund would face insolvency much sooner than currently estimated. The ACA established new tax revenues (fees paid by drug manufacturers and increased payroll taxes on higher income workers. Those would end with repeal.

Call your members of Congress and urge them to vote against repeal of the ACA. We don’t want our seniors to have to choose between buying food and going to the doctor.

This story was originally published July 23, 2017 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Don’t repeal the ACA; protect our seniors."