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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 2017)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ JULY 29, 2017 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR Opinion ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respecting an estab- lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exer- cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2017 © Siuslaw News Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com. Oregon Group Publisher 541-265 8571 Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Consulting Editor 831-761-7353 Email: echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com Marketing Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor Press Manager James Rand Jenna Bartlett Ned Hickson Erik Chalhoub Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classifiedad,sThursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $71; 10-weeks subscription, $18; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscrip- tion,$94; 10-weeks subscription, $24; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $120; Out of United States — 1-year subscription, $200; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: www.TheSiuslawNews.com L ETTERS The future of tradional Medicare? T he future of health- care coverage should be of particular inter- est to Florence’s significant number of Medicare enrollees. While the latest proposal to repeal and replace the ACA has failed, all indications are that con- servative policy makers still want to replace govern- ment-provided traditional Medicare with free-market, profit-based Medicare Advantage. Conservatives contend that free-market principles of competition and profit will provide choice and effi- ciencies. Medicare Part C — Medicare Advantage — allows private health insur- ance companies such as HMOs and PPOs to contract with CMS, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to provide Medicare Part A and Part B benefits and, sometimes, Part D prescription drug cov- erage. Unfortunately, selling health care isn’t like selling cars or clothing. As econo- mists point out, people don’t know when they will get ill. It can be cripplingly expen- sive when they do, treatment choices can be bewildering and insurers have a profit incentive to avoid providing policies to those most at risk. Medicare Advantage plans, structured by private insurers, will often include eye and dental care, along Medicare Advantage reim- burses providers on the basis of procedure codes. Medicare Advantage codes include a “risk score” code designed to pay them higher rates for sicker patients. According to the nonprofit, non-partisan Center for Public Integrity, GUEST VIEWPOINT A RNOLD B UCHMAN CIGNA H EALTHCARE ’ S RETIRED HEAD OF LEGAL SUPPORT FOR WESTERN DIVISION with benefits such as gym memberships, as well as fill gaps in coverage that with traditional Medicare are filled by so-called Medigap or supplemental insurance — all typically for lower out-of-pocket costs than tra- ditional Medicare. In exchange, members must use in-network doctors and hospitals, the composi- tion of which may be prob- lematic for a given individ- ual, especially one coming to need specialized treatment. Like all third-party payers of medical benefits, manipulation of this code resulted in nearly $70 billion in “improper” payments to Medicare Advantage plans from 2008 through 2013. Attempts by CMS to cor- rect this continuing drain of tax dollars have been unsuc- cessful. The result? Ongoing costs from Medicare Advantage mis- takes, abuse and fraud in the billions exceeding estimated traditional Medicare costs. By increasing eligibility age, AHCA would have attracted younger and health- ier seniors from traditional Medicare to Medicare Advantage. This would instantly shrink the risk pool to a higher proportion of more costly older members exacerbating higher cost- sharing in a smaller risk pool. Proposed premium sup- port vouchers would encour- age enrollees to shop among competing “free market” Medicare Advantage poli- cies. Because traditional Medicare premiums and out- of-pocket costs are geared to total Medicare payments, the stage would be set for an insurance death spiral and the end of traditional Medicare. Sweetening “free market” Medicare Advantage would sour “socialized” traditional Medicare, leaving the older and less healthy enrollees without the safety net that traditional Medicare now provides. Something to keep in mind while debate continues about future proposals to refom the ACA and Medicare. TO THE P OLICY E DITOR The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as part of a community discussion of issues on the local, state and national level. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Libelous, argumentative and anonymous letters or poetry, or letters from outside our readership area will not be published. P OLITICAL /E LECTION L ETTERS : Election-related letters must address pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers at-large. Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any information about a candidate is accu- rate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support candidates based on personal experience and per- spective rather than partisanship and campaign- style rhetoric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and plat- forms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid polit- ical advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above crite- ria. Send letters to: nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com WHERE TO WRITE Pres. Donald Trump The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461 TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213 www.whitehouse.gov Gov. Kate Brown 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. Salem, Ore. 97301-4047 Governor’s Citizens’ Rep. Message Line: 503-378-4582 www.oregon.gov/gov U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 541-431-0229 www.wyden.senate.gov U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753/FAX: 202- 228-3997 541-465-6750 www.merkley.senate.gov U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio ( 4 th Dist.) 2134 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6416 541-269-2609 541-465-6732 www.defazio.house.gov State Sen. Arnie Roblan ( Dist. 5 ) 900 Court St. NE - S-417 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1705 FAX: 503-986-1080 Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@ state.or.us State Rep. Caddy McKeown ( Dist. 9 ) 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1409 Email: rep.caddymckeown @state.or.us West Lane County Commissioner Jay Bozievich 125 E. Eighth St. Eugene, OR 97401 541-682-4203 FAX: 541-682-4616 Email: Jay.Bozievich@ co.lane.or.us
