Would the healthcare reform legislation that President Obama plans to sign into law on Tuesday affect seniors in any direct way?
The short answer is “yes.”
Healthcare 101: What the bill means to you
The longer answer is that some seniors may lose Medicare benefits they now enjoy. Many others will gain from an enhancement of Medicare’s prescription-drug program.
Here are some specifics on these changes:
Medicare cuts
Under the healthcare reform bill,
government payments to Medicare Advantage – plans that are run by private insurers such as Humana and are an alternative to traditional Medicare – will be cut by $132 billion over 10 years. (Those plans currently get somewhat more per person from the government than traditional Medicare does.)
Medicare Advantage plans often offer extra benefits that seniors in traditional Medicare don’t get. It is possible that these extras will be dropped as Medicare Advantage plans feel a budget squeeze.
In most areas of the United States, this reduction will be phased in over three years, beginning in 2011, although in some places it will take longer.
The bill does not contain cuts to traditional Medicare benefits. However,
Medicare payments for home healthcare would be reduced by $40 billion between now and 2019. And certain payments to hospitals would be cut by $22 billion over that same period.
Health care reform bill 101: What does it mean for seniors? - CSMonitor.com