Racial Equity And Health Policy Perspective Will Poor Health Status In The South Be An Issue In 2016 PrimariesEven before the coronavirus pandemic Congress was facing tough decisions on how to strengthen the Medicare's Part A Hospital Insurance trust fund. But Congress is now running out of time and will need to move soon on a plan to prolong program solvency..House leaders and a bipartisan group of 40 senators recently sent a letters to President Obama, and Medicare's Administrator, Marilyn Tavenner, expressing serious concerns about the impact of Obamacare cuts. "These cuts, in addition to proposed rules issued by CMS, will force millions of American seniors to face higher health care costs or lose access to their doctor, health plan, lifesaving drugs, and the benefits they've come to rely on," House leaders wrote. The Senate letter stated, "We urge you to maintain payment levels that will allow MA beneficiaries to be protected from disruptive changes in 2015.".The idea is to cut government spending on Medicare by limiting the annual growth of the Medicare voucher to the growth of the gross domestic product plus one percentage point. However, for the last 40 years national healthcare spending has exceeded the growth of the gross domestic product by more than two percentage points, and TSCL is highly concerned that the vouchers would rapidly become increasingly inadequate to purchase sufficient coverage or that seniors would face significantly higher premiums. In addition, the CBO recently wrote that the average age and cost of enrollees remaining in the current system would increase over time, and TSCL believes that would lead to far higher premiums for older beneficiaries as well. … Continued
Human Services Brain Science Interventions And Policy ImplicationsAt this point, the future of the Social Security tax holiday is unclear, though some believe it may resurface later this year as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction takes up the challenge of reducing the deficit by at least .2 trillion before Thanksgiving..Independent financial planners (who don't sell long term care.What would happen if the Supreme Court rules against Obamacare now that people already have purchased coverage? Will I have to repay my premium assistance subsidies? I qualified for ,456 in premium subsidies last year alone. Will plans be allowed to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions again? … Continued