• Most will continue to be covered by their employers.
• Self employed people and those working for an employee who does not offer health insurance will be able to buy insurance through exchanges(which may or may not include a government option).
• There are likely to be tax credits.
• Private health insurers will have to cover everyone(regardless of pre-existing conditions) and may be limited what they can charge those who are old or sick.
• Medicare may have to coordinate care for seniors - especially those with chronic conditions - in order to maintain people in the community and decrease or prevent hospital and nursing home care.
• Medicaid will be expanded to cover more people including childless adults. 

 Mental Health Services for Nursing Home Residents:

Important issues:

1. EUTHANIZE GRANDMOM AND OTHERS

There has been talk about "death panels" and forcing people to die. No bill has this provision. There

are provisions which allow patients to speak with their physicians about advanced directives(health

care proxy, durable power of attorney, DNR, feeding tubes, ventilators, etc.) Anyone would elect to

have this conversation. The MD would be paid for this time and would have to review a variety of

advanced directives.

         2. CARE WILL BE RATIONED

Care is rationed now. Currently, private insurance companies regularly reject people for health insurance if they have pre-existing conditions, place annual and life time conditions on coverage, discontinue coverage when you are ill, etc. Most, if not all, of these bills would prohibit those actions by insurance companies.

Most of these bills will cost about one trillion dollars in ten years.

Currently,

• We spend about two trillion dollars each year for health care.

• Employers are ending health care as a benefit as they cannot afford it.

• We are spending so much more for premiums, co-pays and deductibles that many are dropping their coverage.

• Others are facing personal bankruptcy due to their health care expenses.

         4.   WE WILL ALL BE FORCED TO ACCEPT A GOVERNMENT PLAN(which we have never had in this country).

Medicare is a government plan and it is more cost-efficient than private plans. Some of the plans have a public/government option and some have a co-op option. In either case individuals would choose to continue their current insurance plan or a government or co-op plan. A government plan would be like Medicare for those under 65. The co-op plans have as yet little detail. There are no single payer plans (where the government is the only source of payment) on the table.

5. INDIVIDUAL MANDATE  

In most of the bills everyone will be required to have a plan. Those without a plan could have a financial penalty thru the IRS.

                   6 . SENIORS WILL LOOSE THEIR BENEFITS  .

No.

However, there are new benefits (in most plans).

• Elimination of co-pays and deductibles for preventive services

• Fill the donut hole for prescription coverage.

And, there will likely be cuts for providers including;

• Looking more closely at and eliminating "unnecessary" or "redundant" tests.

• Reduce funding for Medicare Advantage plans.

• Decrease payments for hospitals and physicians.

    7. WILL THERE BE A LONG TERM CARE BENEFIT?

In Senator Kennedy’s version there is a long term care benefit. It would be elective and would involve an additional premium. This is the only bill which has a long term care provision.

Long term care is defined in the bill as community and home based care, assistive living, and nursing home care. It is the first time that there could be a federal insurance program which provides these benefits for most people respective of age, disability, or other status.

It has been passed in Committee and can be debated on the floor of the Senate.

1. Please contact our two Senators(Kennedy and Kerry), along with your congressional representative to support health care legislation which provides long term care and includes single payer or at least a government option.
2. Contact your relatives and friends in other States to do  

.