Yes. really. Seriously.
While scanning #TCOT to see if there was any Right-Wing response to Mitt Romney announcing on MTP that he would "Keep the Good Parts" of ObamaCare - I ran into this.
Bodo Toadfoot @Bodo_Toadfoot
Obama's HHS pilot program to send 2 million poor seniors from Medicare into “voucher” programs http://hotair.com/... … #tcot #AARP #gop #tlot
ConservativeLA @ConservativeLA
HHS pilot program to send 2M poor seniors from Medicare into...“voucher” programs: http://tinyurl.com/... Hypocrisy much? #tcot #hewitt
Ok, so what's this about? Hot Air claims...
http://hotair.com/...
In his convention speech in Charlotte, President Obama vowed to block the Republican Medicare reform plan because “no American should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies.”
But back in Washington, his Health and Human Services Department is launching a pilot program that would shift up to 2 million of the poorest and most-vulnerable seniors out of the federal Medicare program and into private health insurance plans overseen by the states.
The administration has accepted applications from 18 states to participate in the program, which would give states money to purchase managed-care plans for people who are either disabled or poor enough to qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. HHS approved the first state plan, one for Massachusetts, last month.
Yeah, ok - so what's the truth?
Well, it's not what the Wingnuts are saying.
http://www.cms.gov/...
A longstanding barrier to coordinating care for Medicare-Medicaid enrollees has been the financial misalignment between Medicare and Medicaid. To begin to address this issue, CMS will test two models for States to better align the financing of these two programs and integrate primary, acute, behavioral health and long term services and supports for their Medicare-Medicaid enrollees.
These two models include:
Capitated Model: A State, CMS, and a health plan enter into a three-way contract, and the plan receives a prospective blended payment to provide comprehensive, coordinated care.
Managed Fee-for-Service Model: A State and CMS enter into an agreement by which the State would be eligible to benefit from savings resulting from initiatives designed to improve quality and reduce costs for both Medicare and Medicaid.
CMS is interested in testing these models across the country in programs that collectively serve up to 2 million Medicare-Medicaid enrollees. All programs will be rigorously evaluated as to their ability to improve quality and reduce costs. Meaningful engagement with stakeholders and ensuring beneficiary protections will be a crucial part of developing and testing these models.
One thing that these Right-Wing critics ignore is the fact that this isn't really focused on Medicare, but instead impact
Medicaid and those people who are on the cusp between both programs.
There is NO MENTION OF VOUCHERS in these plans.
In contrast to Paul Ryan's vouchers - which act as discount coupons for a fixed amount, the remainder of which would have to paid out of the beneficiaries pocket - these plans would be Paid for By the Government. Nothing in these plans, from what I can see, would increase out of pocket costs for people on these program and would place them in the position of having to consider foregoing care because of those increasing costs the way the Ryan's plan would.
Some of the plan may involved private insurance providers in the same way that Medicare Advantage does, while some would be direct service in the same way that Medicare Part A and Part B do.
This idea is significantly different from Ryan's or Romney who would cut Medicaid by as much as 30% and then block grant it to the states without any oversight or requirements to provide higher quality care at reduced cost.
It's simple Yet again - They Lie!
Vyan