Editorials, Opinion Piece Discuss New Policy Charging Higher Part B Premiums for Higher-Income Medicare Beneficiaries
Several newspapers recently published editorials and opinion pieces on a new policy that will require higher-income Medicare beneficiaries in 2007 for the first time to pay a higher monthly premium for Part B than other beneficiaries. Summaries appear below.
Editorials
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Charlotte Observer: "There are many ways to nip and tuck Medicare, but what's needed is a thorough restructuring of the program as baby boomers hit retirement age," an Observer editorial states. The new policy might provide part of the "answer," the editorial adds (Charlotte Observer, 9/15).
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Tennessean: The new policy represents the "least painful option" to address the financial problems of Medicare, which "will not be able to sustain itself without serious reform," a Tennessean editorial states. Although the new policy might prompt higher-income and middle-income Medicare beneficiaries to leave the program, the "Bush administration and Congress have no choice but to stick to their guns and deal with the facts," the editorial states (Tennessean, 9/14).
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USA Today: "Even with the surcharges, Medicare remains the best deal going for seniors," as higher-income beneficiaries next year might pay $1,945 in premiums but receive $4,363 in benefits, a USA Today editorial states. The editorial concludes, "It's a matter of simple equity that those able to pay for a larger share of their own health care do so" (USA Today, 9/15).
Opinion Piece
- Shannon Benton, USA Today: The "argument that CEOs should pay more than blue-collar workers is a red herring" because higher-income Medicare beneficiaries contribute more into the Medicare trust fund through higher taxes, Benton, executive director of the Senior Citizens League, writes in a USA Today opinion piece. According to Benton, the new policy likely will prompt more higher-income and healthy Medicare beneficiaries to leave the program, a trend that will leave the "poorest and sickest -- and most expensive to treat -- who will be forced to pay higher premiums and deductibles, something they cannot afford" (Benton, USA Today, 9/15).
