Meeting Report

RMAC members participated in a conference call from Senator Enzi’s office in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Washington, D.C. participants are staff to the Senate HELP Committee, which deals specifically with health care issues. The following topics were covered.

Catastrophic Coverage for Medicare:

John Kotson laid out the RMAC’s position that catastrophic coverage still needs to be added to Medicare, because of the large number of medical bankruptcies among senior citizens and because those under age 65 will have catastrophic coverage under the new Health Care Reform law but those over 65 will not. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)’s Option 81 shows how it can be done revenue and cost neutral.

Todd Spangler said that it isn’t likely to happen, because of the increased cost-sharing for some Medicare recipients and because the insurers who sell Medicare supplemental insurance are against it. Todd noted that a lot of the opposition comes from AARP. John noted that AARP makes a lot of money from the Medicare Supplemental insurance it sells. Senator Enzi sponsored an amendment to alter cost-sharing in Medicare supplemental insurance, but it didn’t pass. 

There was agreement that there is a need for Medicare catastrophic coverage and that Option 81 or Senator Enzi’s amendment would be a good place to start in trying to figure out a way to do it. The impact of the increased cost-sharing might be mitigated by making the amount higher for higher-income Medicare participants.

Staff members held to the Republican view that the entire Health Care Reform bill should be repealed.  RMAC members noted that it is now law and that we should work on ways to make it work better.

Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate Formula:

Barbara Wilcox laid out the RMAC’s position that there should be a permanent fix to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SRG) Formula instead of repeated temporary fixes. She asked if Senator Stabenow’s bill, S. 1776, would be a way to do this.

All agreed that there should be a permanent fix, but the problem is paying for it.  Senator Stabenow’s bill would cost one-quarter of a trillion dollars. Senator Enzi’s position is that the money should be found within the Federal budget. Hayden Rhudy explained that most doctors are unaware that the American Medical Association (AMA) asked Senator Reid to take the SRG fix out of the Health Care Reform bill. 

Medicare Negotiation of Drug Prices:

Hazel Floyd explained the RMAC position that Medicare should be given the ability to negotiate drug prices.

Senator Enzi does not support this, because the CBO concluded it would not save money on prescription drugs over what the Medicare D insurance companies have been able to negotiate.

Pension Protection:

Barbara Wilcox noted that the pension protections that were in the compromise bill did not make it into the version passed by the House before the Memorial Day Recess. RMAC favors those provisions.  John Kotson explained that we favor protecting pension funds against being used for corporate restructuring, health care benefits, executive bonuses, etc.

The group adjourned, agreeing to meet again next year. We thanked Senator Enzi’s staff for always being accessible for a good discussion of the issues.