Medigap Changes, Uninsured Under Scrutiny on Capitol Hill This Week, CQ’s Carey Reports
Two congressional committees this week are expected to examine senior citizens' access to health care, with the Senate Aging Committee slated to discuss the impact of the economic downturn on the elderly and the House Ways and Means Committee's health subcommittee planning to consider Medigap changes, Congressional Quarterly's Mary Agnes Carey reports in this week's " Congressional Quarterly Audio Report." The Aging Committee is likely to consider how the stock market decline has hurt seniors' retirement incomes, in addition to examining the "ongoing struggle that seniors face" in purchasing outpatient prescription drugs. On the Medigap issue, the House panel is expected to discuss allowing more flexibility in the design of such policies, which seniors purchase to help cover services that Medicare does not, including prescription drugs. Medigap policies, used by about a quarter of Medicare beneficiaries, are currently standardized by the federal government. Many of the plans provide "first-dollar" coverage to beneficiaries, sparing them from paying deductibles or copayments before Medigap coverage kicks in. Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.), the health subcommittee chair, and others on the panel say such policies "promote excessive Medicare spending" and support more flexibility to design plans that require deductibles and copayments before coverage begins. In its fiscal year 2003 budget plan, the Bush administration has proposed two such Medigap policies, but critics say that seniors often "need the 'first-dollar' coverage because they cannot afford" the out-of-pocket costs.
The Uninsured
Also getting congressional attention this week are the uninsured, with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee scheduled to discuss the issue. Carey notes that the two primary options for helping the uninsured are expanding public health programs or offering tax credits to allow people to purchase health coverage on their own. Though "there isn't any consensus yet -- and there may never be" -- the increased number of people who have lost their jobs, and hence their health insurance, since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, is driving Congress to continue exploring the issue. Carey's full report is available online (Carey, "Congressional Quarterly Audio Report," 3/11).
