Medicare option threatened | The Columbus Dispatch

A little-noticed provision in the House-passed health-care plan would strip billions of dollars out of privately run Medicare plans that emphasize wellness and are increasingly popular among retirees in Ohio and nationally.

[Rll]

Ask James Nash if he's read all 1900+ pages. I doubt it!

[Nana]

I am really afraid of this heath care bill. I think we are not being told the truth.

Our President and ALL law makers need to be telling the truth so that we Americans know what we have to do to make sure we have the insurance coverage that our families truly need.

As it stand now you have to be dirt poor or rich to afford coverage.

My husband had neck surgery back in May and I have out of pocket of $2,000. If I was poor I would not have to pay a dime. If I were rich I could afford it.

I was in the hospital back in July 08 and was in ICU for 6 days. I was in the hospital a total of 9 days and out of pocket of $1,400. Who could afford that oh ya the very poor or the very rich/

Sure not sure about this health bill and elderly people you know the ones that fought for our freedom during WWII. We owe them a lot.

[karyl]

As usual, the Dispatch fails to deliver the goods. I'm a retiree from state government (OPERS) and will be using Humana after the year's end. Now is the term "Medicare Advantage" yet another provider? Humana will offer much less coverage for seniors, but maybe YOU can explain the options (if any), of our 9 month old Prez's "new and improved" Health Bill?

Oh, yeah. Doesn't matter if there's a D or an R behind their names -- check out their salaries and see who is messing with my future. Like Obama said in a scenario about nursing home care -- "If it were my Grandma, I'd just let them give her a shot".

[mickey]

yep f---- over againe and oh ya buy the way mr. obama she probably couldnt pay for the shot any way so she would just be out of luck like the rest of us you and all your washington greedmungers can just ceep looking the other way but someday it will be your turn and the way its going god help you when our great great grand children take care of you

[Unable to see the future]

Well, here we go again.Obviously, the people who have responded to this article aren't articulate enough to know that first you Know all the facts BEFORE you make a statement. You are allowing scare tactics made by a conservative, nonetheless, newspaper to dictate your actions. So, I, with or without, your permission will bring you up to par. This article is totally biased since it relies heavily on remarks made by REPUBLICANS. At last count , I thought this country consisted of more than that. REPUBLICANS are not the party in control, hence they will do anything to attain the power they had to relinquish in last years Presidential election. As someone stated in their response, it does not matter if they have a r,d, or even an i, behind their names, so it is up to YOU to make the change. If I recall correctly, Pres. Obama has already said what type of insurance he , as well as, the other politicians

[Unable to see the future]

have.He is the only one that has come closest to tackling this dilemna, yet there remains the few that are faulting him for his agenda. None of the reasons you possess to thwart this agenda is RELEVANT. Try factoring in RESPONSIBILITY and then, and only then, will you gain the ability to see this picture in its entirety, not myopically, as most of you are doing. Also, attempt to apply the factor of RESPONSIBILITY in every aspect of your lives, and I assure you, things will run smoothly!Stop buying into scare tactics people. RE-learn how to ASK QUESTIONS! Enuff said.

[Dale]

One step closer to government controll,scares me!!leave it alone,put that 1.1 trill toward our defasit,I'm happy with my current health care,But i'm sure if the government health care goes through my health care provider will be shortly closeing the doors as many others will be,When Government helth care is all thats left becouse they put everybody else out of busness is that a choice??I'DE SAY IF WE COULD SEE THE FUTURE we'de all hide under a rock,

[John]

Dale wrote:

One step closer to government controll,scares me!!leave it alone,put that 1.1 trill toward our defasit,I'm happy with my current health care,But i'm sure if the government health care goes through my health care provider will be shortly closeing the doors as many others will be,When Government helth care is all thats left becouse they put everybody else out of busness is that a choice??I'DE SAY IF WE COULD SEE THE FUTURE we'de all hide under a rock,

You make big assumptions and assertions, why hide under a rock?

Find a boulder.

You've been living under one to write what you have.

[Roger Digel-Barrett]

I'm in the advantage plan offered through a local hospital chain. It does not provide me with a free membership to a local YMCA, where I lift weights and walk regularly to stay healthy, so what's my benefit from the advantage plan getting an extra 17% revenue? I'm saving the plan money, but it's costing ME.

[timmy]

It seems to me that Normal Joe and Alice will be fine on medicare,but Teachers,Public Employees,and School Employees will lose their GYM MEMBERSHIP ! Welcome to Joe's and Alice's world. After receiving your SOCIALISM PAY you can't afford to pay your GYM MEMBERSHIP . What a joke ! These people ride the fence. The money that they have made or (SHOW UP FOR) can be used to buy seperate INSURANCE different from the Public Sector. We don't want their big head to deflate. Do we?

[Northwest Ohio]

Well, timmy, since you are so bent on the "socialist" name tag and seem to be against it then maybe you should not have the "socialist" police department or Sheriff's department protect your life and your property. Then, you must also drive off road to everywhere because those roads were built with "socialist" taxation so you don't want to be a part of that, do you? Of course, if your house catches fire then....you better put it out by yourself or hire a private company because you really don't want a public ("socialist") fire department to put it out, do you? Well, the same goes for Medicare advantage plans. Why should the taxpayer pay 113% more to fund the Advantage plans than conventional Medicare and see that additional 13% jump into the pockets of the CEO's of the insurance companies in the form of millions of dollars in salaries and stock options. I'm sure, timy, that you'd like that, wouldn't you?

[timmy]

Northwest Ohio wrote:

Well, timmy, since you are so bent on the "socialist" name tag and seem to be against it then maybe you should not have the "socialist" police department or Sheriff's department protect your life and your property. Then, you must also drive off road to everywhere because those roads were built with "socialist" taxation so you don't want to be a part of that, do you? Of course, if your house catches fire then....you better put it out by yourself or hire a private company because you really don't want a public ("socialist") fire department to put it out, do you? Well, the same goes for Medicare advantage plans. Why should the taxpayer pay 113% more to fund the Advantage plans than conventional Medicare and see that additional 13% jump into the pockets of the CEO's of the insurance companies in the form of millions of dollars in salaries and stock options. I'm sure, timy, that you'd like that, wouldn't you?

Northwest Oh, Well let me tell you a few things. Recently I had ATV'S destorying my Property on the back 29 acres I called the Sheriff he came out to the farm and nothing was done except my land tore up. My parents house was right down the street form the village fire Dept. It burned to the ground ! With them jumping out the second floor windows.The roads are in horrible shape with pot holes from last year. Why ? And those roads your talking about I helped erect those bridges with Contrators from the Public Sector and other Crafts.And as far CEO'S making such an outstanding salaries what do you exspect? Where were they educated ? The Public Sector is sick and tried of supporting SLACKERS !

[Paul Sites]

Who is suprised??????? Please take care of me politicians, I'm not
capable of caring for myself..........

[talk radio man]

Has The Dispatch even mentioned that M.J. Killjoy was a strong supporter of this bill and voted for it. I think not.

[Ohio Lawyer]

Bad article from one Dispatch reporter I generally respect. What Nash doesnt mention -- in an article that could have been written by GOP staff -- is that Medicare Advantage funneled huge amounts of taxpayer money to private insurance companies' profit lines. Medicare Advantage -- like Medicare Part D for the drug industry, student loan programs that funneled tax money to private lenders, and many other programs -- was part of a GOP scheme to buy off industry contributors, while pretending to be fiscally responsible at the same time.

Mr. Nash, you blew this story big time. There's no real perspective at all on the enormous costs of subsidizing private insurance profits, and that's what Medicare Advantage does.

[Honest John]

As Isacc Asimov once said to me, in a short, hand-written note: "I'm as helpless as you are...". In that same vein, it does seem as if you all need help.
Semper Fi.

[On Medicare]

Everyone on here is a fantastic reflection of the country as a whole. You're so busy attacking each other or complaining about rich and poor, which people's ideas are stupid or not, that you aren't looking at the issue with proper perspective or asking the right questions.

Sure healthcare needed reform and Obama is the first to gain this much ground, but how is he gaining the ground? Why the rush to push the bill through so quickly at the midnight hour over a weekend? I'm a Democrat, but even I had to ask that. Aren't any of you wondering about this? Why right this minute, when healthcare has needed reform for years? This isn't about Republicans being against something Democrats support. Let's ask some common sense questions about WHY things need to be rushed through without taking a breath.

And you on here, why insist on taking narrow perspectives and bashing each other's views? You're launching personal attacks instead of asking big questions about the issues. This is how you miss the forest for the trees. I'm not saying I have all or even any of the answers here, but why not ask some hard questions instead of fighting over who's biased and who's ideas are trivial or ridiculous? If we all end up sick together, this fighting and rudeness toward each other will definitely be shown as pointless.

Stop thinking there's some divide here when there doesn't need to be

[Ohio Lawyer]

On Medicare wrote:

Everyone on here is a fantastic reflection of the country as a whole. You're so busy attacking each other or complaining about rich and poor, which people's ideas are stupid or not, that you aren't looking at the issue with proper perspective or asking the right questions.
Sure healthcare needed reform and Obama is the first to gain this much ground, but how is he gaining the ground? Why the rush to push the bill through so quickly at the midnight hour over a weekend? I'm a Democrat, but even I had to ask that. Aren't any of you wondering about this? Why right this minute, when healthcare has needed reform for years? This isn't about Republicans being against something Democrats support. Let's ask some common sense questions about WHY things need to be rushed through without taking a breath.
And you on here, why insist on taking narrow perspectives and bashing each other's views? You're launching personal attacks instead of asking big questions about the issues. This is how you miss the forest for the trees. I'm not saying I have all or even any of the answers here, but why not ask some hard questions instead of fighting over who's biased and who's ideas are trivial or ridiculous? If we all end up sick together, this fighting and rudeness toward each other will definitely be shown as pointless.
Stop thinking there's some divide here when there doesn't need to be

A rush to pass this? Nonsense. It's been waiting for months. And the longer a bill lingers, the more chances some very greedy and selfish special interests (and bad newspapers) have to work up the fruitcake right and scare old people and try to keep tens of millions of citizens from having access to health care.

[bev d]

Has anyone asked just what the wording is in this bill? I am trying to look it up. Also who wrote it so quickly when it contains well over 1000 pages(or so I have read)? It is written by attorneys or was it cobbled together by old partially written bills?
I have not heard any answers. Has anyone here actually read it or is your information just hearsay.
Please people-we can read lets do it before we cast stones.

[Ohio Lawyer]

bev d wrote:

Has anyone asked just what the wording is in this bill? I am trying to look it up. Also who wrote it so quickly when it contains well over 1000 pages(or so I have read)? It is written by attorneys or was it cobbled together by old partially written bills?
I have not heard any answers. Has anyone here actually read it or is your information just hearsay.
Please people-we can read lets do it before we cast stones.

The "thousand page" stuff is enormously misleading, because bills are printed with huge margins at the side and fill less than half the actual page. You can try www.thomas.gov for text but it may not be the easiest place to navigate.