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AARP to hold public forum focused on health care, Medicare

The Daily Nonpareil - 6/8/2017

AARP will hold a public forum on health care and Medicare from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 15 in Room B at the Council Bluffs Public Library, 400 Willow Ave. It will be the second of eight forums AARP is holding around the state.

"We talk about how the proposed bill would affect Iowans," said Ann Black of AARP Iowa.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act on May 4, but several groups in the Senate are holding intense discussions on changes they think should be made to the bill before it goes to the Senate floor.

AARP opposed the bill because of concerns about how it would affect senior citizens. The organization takes issue with a provision that would allow insurance companies to increase seniors' premiums by up to five times as much as an average policyholder, while current law limits it to three times as much. AARP calls this an "age tax."

The proposal would weaken Medicare by eliminating a surtax on high-income earners and other tax and revenue measures, reducing revenue going to the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, according to Anthony Carroll, associate director of advocacy for AARP Iowa. He said this would "hasten the insolvency of Medicare by about four years."

"That is a problem not only for people on Medicare but for people who are depending on it to be there in the future," he said.

The threat of an earlier financial crisis in Medicare might strengthen the hand of people who want to dismantle the program and replace it with some kind of voucher system, Carroll said.

The bill could weaken or remove protections for people with pre-existing conditions, Black said. There are more than 200,000 people in Iowa ages 50-64 with pre-existing conditions who might be hurt by the proposed bill, she said.

"As I understand it, people with pre-existing conditions will have to pay more, depending on their condition," she said.

But a fact sheet on Iowa Congressman David Young's website states that the AHCA maintains protections for pre-existing conditions. It would allow states to seek a "very limited waiver" permitting insurance companies to charge higher premiums for someone in the individual health insurance market with a health condition if they do not maintain continuous coverage.

The proposal would cut $839 billion from Medicaid, endangering funds for low-income seniors and disabled children, according to AARP.

In Iowa, 93,000 low-income seniors depend on Medicaid to cover expenses for nursing home or in-home care that isn't covered by Medicare, Carroll said.

"People think of Medicaid as being just for low-income, but in Iowa 45 percent of the funding paid goes to Medicare beneficiaries," he said.

Black acknowledged that the Health Insurance Marketplace in Iowa created by the Affordable Care Act is on shaky ground. It is unclear whether any insurers will participate in the marketplace in 2018.

"In Iowa, we have the situation of that being a very big question," she said.

Aetna and Wellmark have announced that they will not offer plans through the marketplace in 2018, and Medica may not, either. If so, only five counties - all in northeast Iowa - would have an insurance carrier, assuming the remaining participant, Gunderson, stays in for 2018.

Companies intending to offer plans through the Iowa Health Insurance Marketplace in 2018 must file plans and rates by June 19.

"Next year is a crisis that really needs to be addressed at the state level right away," Black said.

The forum is free and is open to everyone. A box lunch and refreshments are included.

Advance registration is required by calling 877-926-8300 or signing up online at aarp.event.com/cbhc.

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