Play with the pigskin

Football season is starting early this year.

My one-year tour around Pennsylvania comes to an end next week and it saddens me that it is ending under the looming cloud of misinformation claiming that Medicare will be cut by $716 Billion under the PPACA.  I began this project with a sole mission:  keep the facts about the PPACA straight, apply them to the lives of real people, stay non-political and grounded in public health.  This has often been been a challenge.  

As I have tried to stay beyond the media fray, I am challenged now more than ever as I have watched medicare be used as a political football.  In April 2012 I presented a 5 part series on Medicare featuring Barbara, a senior from Westmoreland County who has struggled with affordable prescription drugs when she reached the “donut hole”.  Many of us know an elderly person that has cut pills in half because they struggle to pay for prescriptions.  

It is a public health fact that each year 4 million seniors reach the “donut hole” in prescription drug coverage and 25% of them will stop taking their prescription drugs when this happens.  It is also a public health fact that prior to the PPACA, 1/2 of medicare beneficiaries did not utilize annual physical exams and other preventive services (flu shots, mammograms, colonsocopy).  

Affordable prescription drugs and access to preventive care are both major public health concerns that not only impact the health and well-being of our seniors, but challenge the financial bottom line of our medicare program.  With the passage of the PPACA, these two major public health issue have been addressed and in the end, save money.

How do we pay for this?  On April 27, 2012 (Is the PPACA killing granny?), I explored how the PPACA implements instruments that reduce waste, fraud and abuse and reallocates the overpayments to Medicare Advantage (a private insurance plan) to closing the “donut hole” and providing preventive health services for our seniors.  At the same time however, the PPACA strengthens Medicare Advantage by subjecting it to basic consumer protections such as Medical Loss Ratio.  In the end, the lifespan of medicare has been expanded 8 years-another cost savings.

Finally, as seen in the Dartmouth Institute’s infamous Atlas Study, 30% of all our healthcare dollars are wasted in things such as duplicated care.  The future of healthcare is calling us to get away from the fee-for-service model, reducing preventable hospital readmission, utilize coordinated care, focus on a patient centered medical home and modernize our record systems.  All of which are cost savings, not $716 Billion in cuts as some politicians who rather use Medicare as a political football are claiming.

As we enter the fall, lets hope these same politicians start playing games with the pigskin instead of Medicare.

The passage of the PPACA has extended the lifespan of Medicare

For more information about Medicare check out the Pennsylvania Health Access Network's site for seniors.

Looking for a GUEST SPEAKER on healthcare and The New Healthcare Law?  Contact Holly Dolan.  Through the art of storytelling, Holly takes you on her year-long tour around Pennsylvania with an interactive and informative presentation. CLICK HERE for more information.