Friday, November 19, 2010

Joe Biden and Broken Promises on Medicare and Jobs

In response to Vice President Biden’s recent interview with GQ – and his claim that people’s “premiums haven’t gone up.  They’re not in a position where their companies are dropping health care” – the easiest fact check to the Vice President’s statement comes in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, which outlines how Medicare Advantage plans are leaving the marketplace – depriving seniors of their current plans – thanks to Democrat legislation:

Seniors enrolling in private Medicare policies starting this week are finding fewer options, as health insurers close down certain types of plans due to legislative changes and looming cuts to federal funding.

Cigna Corp., Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, several Blue Cross Blue Shield plans and others aren’t renewing hundreds of Medicare Advantage plans, which are Medicare policies administered by private insurers.  The moves will displace some 700,000 beneficiaries who must find new policies, according to Humana Inc., a large seller of Advantage plans.

For 2011, the Kaiser Family Foundation said there will be a 13% decline in the number of Medicare Advantage plans….

Sentara Healthcare’s Optima Health, an insurer in Virginia Beach, Va., has decided to shutter two plans for next year because of pending health-overhaul cuts.  A spokeswoman said the cuts will make it impossible to shoulder the higher administrative and medical costs in those plans.

Harvard Pilgrim said the decision to close its plan was largely based on the new network requirements, but that it also considered the future viability of Medicare Advantage.  “The likelihood that there would be cuts at some point played a role,” said spokeswoman Sharon Torgerson.

As Humana’s chief executive noted: “It’s hard to imagine these cuts to Medicare Advantage and nothing is going to change,” contrary to the Vice President’s claims.

The Vice President also asserted in his interview that Americans believe “other than in the health care industry, they [i.e., the Administration] didn’t create many jobs.”  The only problem with this assertion is that the health care law didn’t create jobs, but rather is destroying them – as demonstrated by events in Joe Biden’s own hometown.  Specifically, Mercy Hospital in Scranton, PA put its three facilities up for sale – and the institution’s CEO claimed that “absolutely” the health care law was a factor in the decision.