First Aid

How big a Band-Aid do you need if you are attacked with a machete?  Today’s volunteer paramedics are Ohio House of Representatives Randi Clites (D-75) and Jeffrey Crossman (D-15).  Their bandage is the recently introduced 89 page House Bill 390.  The machete is Texas v. U.S., the lawsuit targeting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).  They may need a bigger Band-Aid.

In an effort to save you time, here is the link to the Detailed Analysis provided by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.  This is the Summary from the same site:

• Repeals outright suspended provisions that allowed health insurers to pass on the cost of reinsurance to certain high risk individuals.
• Codifies in state law the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) limitations on premium charges.
• Codifies in state law the ACA’s ban of annual and lifetime limits.
• Codifies in state law the ACA’s ban on preexisting condition exclusions.
• Codifies in state law the ACA’s provisions requiring health plans to offer certain essential health benefits.
• Codifies in state law the ACA’s cost sharing limitations.
• Codifies in state law the ACA’s requirement that a health plan provide benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60% of the full actuarial value of the benefits provided.

Legislation like this can be a tough slog to read.  It is a step by step process of affirming and / or amending sections of the Revised Code.  There are plenty of opportunities for both missteps and mischief in this type of bill.  Barb Gerken, the Chairperson of the Ohio Association of Health Underwriters’ Legislative Committee, immediately noticed that full-time employment had accidentally reverted to 25 hours per week.  That and other questions about Rx copayments were the first issues she noticed.  A careful reading will find other problems large and small.  Though there are lots of cosponsors, Democrats and Republicans, the final bill, if passed, will undergo significant changes before it might ever land on the governor’s desk.

House Bill 390 is an important first step.  The TV talk shows have featured numerous legal scholars who have derided the merits of the Texas lawsuit.  But the elected leaders of the State of Texas seemed determined to drag the rest of our country down to their level of health care insecurity.  Even if this lawsuit fails, there will be another.  A poker player only needs a “chip and a chair”.  Texas only needs an attorney and a lack of conscience.  We must applaud the efforts of Representatives Crossman and Clites.  In her testimony before the Ohio House Insurance Committee, Representative Clites cited her personal experience as the mother of a child who has endured major medical conditions.  It is estimated that nearly two million Ohioans suffer from a pre-existing condition that would threaten our ability to purchase health insurance.  We share her concern.  The question is whether the Insurance Committee’s Chairman, Representative Thomas E. Brinkman, Jr. (R-27), also shares our concern.

Eighteen states and the Trump White House are swinging a machete at our health care system.  It will take legislation, not Band-Aids, to protect us.  HB 390 is the first legislative step to help Ohioans retain access to health insurance, the way most of us access and pay for health care.  I’m looking forward to other serious proposals.  I just hope to see some soon.  That machete is too close for comfort.

DAVE

Picture - It's A Start - David L Cunix

www.cunixinsurance.com 

I Got My Card!

It is no secret that I will turn 65 in February.  My daily mail, the phone calls, and the pop-ups on Facebook are proof that my 65^th birthday is eagerly anticipated by a whole host of marketers.  And yet, we are all celebrating the same thing, my transition to Medicare.

Countless clients have nervously approached their enrollment into Medicare as if they were buying a house or, worse, unboxing a new cellphone.  They thought that it would be confusing and difficult.  I have been suggesting the same two options for years.  One option is to simply go online to www.medicare.gov.  The other option was to go to the local Social Security office.  Our local Social Security office (Beachwood, Ohio) has a great reputation for both efficient and respectful service.  It was recently my turn to enroll in Medicare Part A and Part B.

Though it was tempting to just go to the Social Security office, I decided that I should try to enroll in Medicare online.  The process begins up to three months before your birth month.  On Friday, November 1^st, I took the first step.  The entire process, including registering on the Social Security website, took 20 minutes.  It was easy, so easy I was actually worried that perhaps I had screwed up.

I received confirmation that the process had begun within days by both email and snail mail.  On November 16^th I received an oversized envelope in the mail.  My card?  I tore open the envelope to find the Extra Help forms.  This program is designed to help financially challenged senior citizens pay the monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and co-payments for their Medicare prescription drug program.  Thankfully, I don’t need Extra Help.  But if I did, this form would have been a breeze to complete.

My Medicare Card came in yesterday’s mail! It took less than three weeks.  There is no reason to be nervous.  The process is not hard.  Sometime in the next month I will apply for my Medicare Supplement and Medicare Part D (Rx).  This couldn’t have been easier.

I started to pay in to Social Security and Medicare in 1970 at the age of 15.  I never doubted that Medicare would be waiting for me to turn 65.  Never.  All of that faith has paid off.

Dave

www.cunixinsurance.com

Picture – The Newest Medicare Beneficiary – David L Cunix

The Important News Was On Page 22

The front page of today’s Plain Dealer featured stories about algae, UAW workers second guessing their recent strike, and lead safety rules for child care centers.  Other stories were teased at the very top and bottom of the page.  But the news that will impact millions of Americans and a significant number of Greater Clevelanders was buried on Page 22.  Did you find it?  We now know the important Medicare changes for 2020.

• Medicare Part B Premium - $144.60, an increase of $9.10 per month
• Medicare Part A Deductible - $1,408
• Medicare Part B Deductible - $198, an increase of $13

The Associated Press article by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar cited a statement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) blaming these premium and deductible increases on “drugs administered in doctors’ offices.  Those medications are covered under the Part B outpatient benefit and include many cancer drugs”.

There was no mention of government funding, or that Medicare is unable to negotiate drug pricing, or any of the other issues contributing to the rising costs of health care.  Perhaps those are being held in reserve for the 2021 increases.

And when those increases are announced this time next year, don’t be surprised if they won’t be found in a Sunday paper on Page 22.

DAVE

www.CunixInsurance.com

Picture – Ready For The Birdcage – David L Cunix