Continue To Gain Popularity As Health Insurance Futures Look Bleak
At
14wfie.com, President Bush's plan to cut health care spending, "including a major five-year reduction in Medicare expenditures to slow the program's annual growth rate from 6.5% to 5.6%," draws criticism in an environment where health insurance rates just keep going up.
Medicare supplement plans are already a necessity for millions of Americans, and if they should have to pay higher premiums for medicine and doctor's services, those plans will only continue to go up in cost and popularity.
The plan, to cut $78 billion from Medicare and Medicaid, is designed to reduce the federal deficit by 2012. But, many people don't feel that they should pay for that deficit with their health insurance, especially since the cost of medical coverage has already gone up 87% in just 6 years.
Over 43 million people rely on Medicare, especially since it only costs about 15% of what private,
individual health insurance charges. The Medicare beneficiary median family income was around $20,000 per year in 2001, meaning that for the vast majority of these families they could never afford private health coverage.
Medicare supplement plans are available for those who need more care than that available under standard Medicare plans A or B; this might include lengthy hospital stays, psychiatric care, nursing care, and more. Medicare supplement plans are available through private insurers, though many people who need them can't afford them (otherwise they would already have private health insurance). Should this budget cut be approved, many, many Americans will be struggling to cover the costs that Medicare will no longer pay for, making Medicare supplement plans even more expensive and necessary.
Facts on:
Medicare Supplement Plans
Did you know...
President Bush plans to slow the program's annual growth rate from 6.5% to 5.6%?
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The word on the street is that the cuts won't be approved, since "now that Democrats control both houses of Congress, it's unlikely there would be much, if any, change to the existing Medicare program."
While this is certainly good news, what would be better is the expansion of Medicare and Medicaid to better care for those individuals who already rely on it for the maintenance and protection of their health.
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