The Future Of Medicare....

This article from the black chamber of commerce states: "If you are on Medicare the pain will hit there also.  The amount of payment going to your doctor will decrease by 30%.  You are going to be responsible for paying that portion of the bill."

http://www.nationalbcc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1588:the-fiscal-cliff-will-hurt-all-of-us&catid=63:beyond-the-rhetoric&Itemid=8

Thank you for your feedback!

Is that cliff in relation to the "Sequestrian Act" I have been hearing about-Jan 2, 2013? If I file for SSDI then I will not have medicare for 2 years but I do qualify for IHS (Indian Health Services) this facility is 130 miles from my house and I would be able to get contract health services through the tribal area hospitals BUT if the sequestrian act goes through, what Obama giveth, he taketh as the cuts to IHS are going to now keep me from receiving "local" contract services and force me to obtain them at the nearest BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) IHS hospital which is 500 miles away in Oklahoma. Someone told me I could get on the PCIP but that is going away  too as it will be phased in with the exchange offering of 2014-my husband will be retiring next year and his insurance sucks big time, no chance of me jumping on his. I can always file for a state assistance program but by definition of the state poverty levels, we are above those slightly and do not qualify. I can go to a state funded medical assistance program aka the "Gold" card, but that system is really a sad affair-I will be standing in line at the county hospital waiting for a doctor to see with 300 other people waiting as well....

Hello Susan,

Correct me if I am wrong please but although the Sequesterian Act was issued by OMB to deal with Congress at a later date (think he saw this coming) I hold Obama technically responsible as it is his law that he enacted under his administration to protect his interests and I believe he has something to say about what gets cut in the process--- the long arm of the oval office

I'm so sorry, it's been a long day; I see I have omitted a very important piece to my above reference in the first sentence "Correct me if I am wrong please but although the Sequesterian Act was issued by OMB to deal with Congress at a later date, "It was the Budget Control Act of 2011 signed into law by Barack Obama" (think he saw this coming) now can I hold him responsible? 

They have the Moon Shots program but that's for triple negative only-my spinal mets are very small and my cancer seems to be moving gradually slow so I may be good for 24 months....I see I need to update my info-I dont get on here much....should I wait to file until next year as I have read on the medicare website that they will base my premium amounts from my IRS tax table for these 2 years? It's only another 6 or or 7 weeks until 2013....someone also told me I should apply in person with SSDI as the compassionate allowance filing may be tricky online as I have micro metastastic activity in spine and arthritis....not full blown mets to organs...I was then told it wouldn't matter, I'm so confused!

Eva-I'm so sorry to hear that-what about the Obama's ideal of being able to buy insurance across state lines??? I remember reading about that but need to go back and find the facts of it....I appreciate your kind offerrings of such valuable information and I wish you well with your endeavors in finding the right answers to your insurance needs. I am on a FB page with a lot of women running rampant with opionions and it really is just fear of the unknown but I want to arm myself with the facts cause that is all that is going to guide us into the new healthcare system that is in place!

I have this link on another forum and one poster said this: (I agree with her as I read the same in the bill with them platforming increases across the years up to 2019)

"This is what is going to happen to Medicare. I can't give you reference numbers, etc, but I did read the bill last year. They are going to cut Medicare by paying the doctors less money. We will not be responsible for the difference. However, our premiums for Medicare Part B will double in two years. Part B is what covers everything except hospital which is covered by part A which is free, and Part D which is separate prescriptions. Currently we are paying around $98 per month (mine I have deducted automatically from my social security disabiity) it is going up next year to like 118 and the following year either 2014 or 2015 (cant remember) it will be around 200. Rember Medicare Part B only pays 80% of covered costs and you need a medicare supplemental plan if you want the 20% covered, too. My supplemental plan is really expensive and goes up every year. This year it is 425 a month. In 2007 when I became eligible for Medicare, my supplemental was only 295. I think that is a big increase in a 5year time frame, but that is private insurance.
The BIG problem comes when doctors STOP TAKING MEDICARE, because they are being paid squat. My primary internist stopped taking on new medicare patients and so are lots of other doctors. They know what is coming. She is still keeping all her patients that are currently on Medicare. This is eventually going to effect our quality of care, when the better doctors no longer take medicare."

Another interesting article from the NEJM on The taxing power and the Public's health http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1209648?query=TOC

Source information: From the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston (M.M.M.); and Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA (I.G.C.).

***The 3rd paragraph down, it states "Roberts noted that the SRP is paid into the Treasury when taxpayers file income tax returns; it doesn't apply to nontaxpayers"..........I thought everyone had to share the burden but if you do not file, then how do those folks pay their fair share????