Health care consensus: confusion for seniors

Politicians may be divided on health care reform, but a consensus has formed among senior citizens: they find the 1,900-page House bill so confusing that many doubt proposed Medicare changes can even be explained.

“We’re all kind of in the dark about it, because we don’t know what’s in it,” said Anne Smith, incoming president of Blue Ridge AARP chapter 544. “The congressmen, I don’t know if they’ve even read all those pages ...  and it changes every day.”

Smith’s predecessor, current President Ann Walker, said she too is trying to get a grasp on reforms, but that “every time that I think I know what’s in there, I hear or read something different.”

Area health care policy experts and senior advocates say the House bill is unquestionably causing anxiety. But they caution reforms could turn out drastically different and they’re tempering seniors’ concerns with a wait-and-see attitude.

Sixth District U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, isn’t waiting.

He has railed against the bill. A government evaluation released over the weekend reports that the legislation’s planned $500-billion cut to Medicare spending could

sharply reduce benefits and

jeopardize access to care for millions of people.

“There is a lot of fear out there, particularly among older people, that they’re going to lose their coverage,” said Paul Lavigne, Valley Program on Aging Services chief executive officer.

Medicare communicates “often and thoroughly” about changes, Lavigne said, but tracking pending legislation is much more difficult.

Despite unrest in many local chapters, AARP backed the House bill in large part for three reforms: a closing of the Medicare prescription drugs “doughnut hole,” the bill’s strict limits on insurance company billing policies and a proposed cap on out-of-pocket expenses.

Another benefit: incentives for pilot programs that could lead to increased quality and decreased costs, said David E. Cockley, associate professor of health services at James Madison University. Increased coverage of preventive care is a “big positive,” he said.

But critics such as Goodlatte contend that potentially massive cuts to Medicare funding, coupled with the projected explosion in the number of eligible seniors will put huge pressure on the system.

The ranks of people 65 or older are expected to double statewide and in the Augusta County region in the next 20 years. About 16 percent of the populations in Waynesboro and Staunton is older than 65. By 2029, a fourth of the total U.S. population is projected to be that age or older.

Cuts to Medicare, and especially Medicare Advantage plans, could force seniors to look to supplemental plans. Goodlatte said millions of people would not be able to afford them.

As 81-year-old Don Short sees it, politicians did a lot of talking about health care reform, but not enough reading.

“It’s the specific details that bite you in the rear end,” said Short, who lives at Summit Square with his wife, Lyn.

If changes do occur, Valley Aging Services would help by connecting seniors with Virginia Insurance Counseling and Assistance Program counselors. The Waynesboro Senior Center and Senior Advocacy Commission would host classes to explain changes, representatives said.

“When you change, we don’t know if we can manage,” Short said. “We kind of get skittish.”