In for a penny, in for a pound. Or a million of them. AHIP must really be scared that reform is coming, so they're taking a page from the Republicans in an attempt to scare the dickens out of senior citizens. Sam Stein reports:
In a late-effort push to alter or torpedo health care reform, the major lobby for private insurers has made a multi-state, million-dollar ad purchase claiming that seniors will see their care cut under Democrat-crafted legislation.
"Is it right to ask 10 million seniors on Medicare advantage for more than their fair share?" the ad asks. "Congress is proposing over 100 billion in cuts to Medicare advantage. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says many seniors will see cuts in benefits."
The spot, according to a Democratic ad tracker is running in a variety of states, including Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico, Missouri, Louisiana and Nevada. The money behind it is impressive. Slightly more than $1 million has been spent for it to air during a ten-day period beginning this past Monday (that total doesn't include expenditures in Pennsylvania, which the tracker didn't have readily available).
You can see the ad at HuffPo.
Core benefits under Medicare of course won't be cut. What's at issue is Medicare Advantage plans, the add-on plans that generally cost the federal government about 14 percent more than regular fee-for-service Medicare. Plans will stll be requried to offer all the benefits available under traditional Medicare. About a quarter of the nation's seniors have these advantage plans, so the vast majority of seniors would see no change.
None of which AHIP will tell you, of course, because they make money off of the Advantage plans. And because they think scaring seniors is the easiest route to derailing reform.