PUBLISHED MON, AUG 9 202111:56 AM EDT Sarah O’Brien@SARAHTGOBRIEN
KEY POINTS
·
Medicare would cover dental, vision and hearing under the
spending plan.
·
The eligibility age — currently 65 — would also be lowered.
·
There’s no guarantee that these proposals will make it through
the full legislative process.Health insurance for America’s older population
would be expanded under a $3.5 trillion budget plan released Monday by Senate
Democrats.
As part of the budget blueprint, Medicare — relied
on by most Americans once they reach the eligibility age of 65 — would cover
dental, vision and hearing. Additionally, the age when people can sign up for
the insurance would also be lowered, although it’s uncertain whether it would be age 60 as President Joe Biden has
said he supports.
The proposals are part of Biden’s economic
agenda to spend on climate change, health-care and family-service programs.
Although there’s no certainty that everything in the budget resolution will
make it through the full congressional process, Medicare advocates are hopeful
that coverage of the extra benefits will come to fruition.“This would be a very
big deal for the Medicare program and Medicare beneficiaries,” said David
Lipschutz, associate director and senior policy attorney for the Center for
Medicare Advocacy.
“If Congress adds [those] benefits, it would
fill some major gaps in coverage that the program has had since its inception,”
Lipschutz said.
About 62.8 million individuals are enrolled in
Medicare, the majority of whom are age 65 and older and rely on it as their
primary health insurance. The program was created through congressional
legislation in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson and largely reflected
health-coverage standards at the time, which didn’t involve widespread coverage
for dental, vision and hearing, Lipschutz said.
“But as the health-care system has evolved,
Medicare has often been slow to catch up,” he said.
More from Personal Finance:
Pandemic-era relief is drying up. Families still have
options
These retirees more likely to be ‘comfortable’ or
‘affluent’
Crypto takes off as a way to pay for vacation getaways
Original Medicare consists of Part A (hospital
coverage) and Part B (outpatient care coverage). Excluding limited exceptions,
there is no coverage related to dental, vision or hearing, which can lead to
beneficiaries forgoing care.
“It would be a significant improvement [to
provide coverage] for people who often go without needed care because they
can’t afford it and for people who pay a lot for the care they need,” said
Tricia Neuman, executive director for the Kaiser Family Foundation’s program on
Medicare policy.
Some beneficiaries get limited coverage for
dental, vision and hearing if they choose to get their Parts A and B benefits
delivered through an Advantage Plan (Part C), which often include those extras.
About 40% of beneficiaries are enrolled in Advantage Plans.
However, Lipschutz said, the extra coverage
generally is not comprehensive. On the other hand, if expanded benefits — no
matter how generous — were required under original Medicare, they’d become
standard in an Advantage Plan.
“We’d hope this would enrich benefits for all
beneficiaries,” Lipschutz said.
Democrats said their budget plan is paid for
through higher tax revenue, health-care savings and long-term economic growth.
Biden has proposed imposing higher taxes on the rich and corporations, as well
as providing more money to the IRS to bulk up its enforcement efforts.
While the plan includes scant details about the
proposed Medicare changes, other efforts to expand the program coverage could
offer some clues.
A House bill introduced in July by Rep. Lloyd
Doggett, D-Texas, would include things such as dentures, preventive and
emergency dental care, refractive eye exams and eyeglasses, and hearing aids
and exams.
The expanded coverage also was included in a
broader health-care-related bill that cleared the House in 2019 but was not
taken up by the Senate. Under that proposal, beneficiaries would have chipped
in the standard 20% for some dental coverage.
Major treatments — i.e., bridges, crowns, root
canals — would have cost more. Dentures also would have been covered, within
limits. And routine eye and hearing exams, as well as hearing aids, contact
lenses and eyeglasses, also would have been included.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/09/democrats-budget-plan-calls-for-major-medicare-expansion.html
No comments:
Post a Comment