(Formerly Action Alert )
To: All NAIFA Members
Updated: July 9, 2008
Subject: Ask the President to Veto H.R. 6331 -- Medicare Advantage Cuts
On July 9, the Senate passed the Medicare bill (H.R. 6331) with Medicare Advantage cuts intact. The Senate invoked cloture (69-30), and then passed the bill by voice vote. The President is expected to veto the legislation. While this was a veto-proof cloture vote, it does not necessarily mean the Senate will override a Bush veto.
The bill would block a 10.6 percent cut in doctors’ fees and would increase Medicare payments to doctors by 1.1 percent next year. But the physician increases would be offset by a reduction in payments to private Medicare Advantage plans, a proposal totaling about $13.8 billion over five years.
AHIA-NAIFA Health & Employee Benefits has opposed and continues to oppose these cuts.
Please contact the President today and ask him to veto H.R. 6331, which would negatively impact the choice and cost of health plans for Medicare beneficiaries.
- Go to NAIFA's Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/naifa to send an email or
- Call the White House at (202) 456-1414.
Sample Comments: It always has a greater impact if you use your own words when submitting comments. The following sample language can be used as the text of your email or as a guideline for your phone call:
Dear Mr. President:
The physician payment system needs to be fixed, but not at the expense of the millions of seniors who rely on the quality coverage they receive from Medicare Advantage plans. Please consider the devastating impact these cuts would have on seniors including fewer choices, reduced benefits, and higher out-of-pocket costs.
As an insurance agent who assists seniors in assessing their health care needs and options including Medicare Advantage plans, I know first hand the value these plans provide to Medicare beneficiaries. Not only would this legislation result in more than 2.2 million Medicare beneficiaries facing a disruption in their health care, it would limit choice and increase costs to Medicare beneficiaries. Our seniors deserve better.
Please do not disrupt the beneficial coverage millions of seniors currently enjoy and veto H.R. 6331.
Technical Assistance? If you have technical questions about using NAIFA's Legislative Action Center, please contact Vicky Dobbin at 703-770-8113, communications@naifa.org.
Thank you in advance for your help on this issue!
Sincerely,
Jeffrey J. Taggart, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF,
NAIFA President
and
Thomas J. Vander Wal, AHIA President
Also see NAIFA Action Alerts for alerts sent prior to January 2008.