DARKE COUNTY – Every day, I hear from seniors across Ohio—especially those in rural areas of our state—who rely on Medicare Advantage (MA) for their basic healthcare needs. Thankfully, President Trump has kept his promise to protect Medicare. Unfortunately, however, some senators seem to prefer Joe Biden’s failed agenda by proposing harmful cuts to the Medicare Advantage program. These cuts would disrupt affordable, quality healthcare coverage for millions of seniors, and we must do everything we can to stop them. Thankfully, our own Senator Jon Husted has been a strong advocate for MA seniors in the past, and I’m counting on him to keep up the fight by defeating the “No UPCODE Act.”
Senator Bill Cassidy’s “No UPCODE Act” threatens access to Medicare Advantage plans for Ohio seniors. These plans provide coordinated, high-quality care for patients living with chronic disease.
Cassidy’s bill bans MA plans from using critical medical data from chart reviews and other sources when calculating a patient’s health risk. Without this information, it would be much harder to accurately assess the true cost of covering a patient and determine adequate government reimbursements. Preventing MA plans from using this clinically validated data would mean higher out-of-pocket costs and reduced benefits for all MA seniors.
For most Americans on Medicare, MA remains the best option. Seniors on MA plans spend about $3,500 less per year on out-of-pocket costs than those on Original Medicare, and MA enrollees tend to have lower avoidable hospitalization rates and receive more preventive services.
While a little more than half of the Medicare-eligible population chooses Medicare Advantage, the demographics of those on MA plans differ in important ways from those with Original Medicare. Seniors on MA plans tend to be older, sicker, and more diverse, with 40% of MA beneficiaries qualifying for low-income subsidies. Sen. Cassidy’s bill would ask those beneficiaries to pay more, even if many could not afford it. This is wrong.
Medicare Advantage serves seniors while being a great deal for taxpayers. The costs for MA benefits are 15% lower than the same benefits with traditional Medicare. Those cost savings are part of the reason MA plans can offer benefits that Original Medicare does not.
Senator Husted has been a strong advocate for seniors with Medicare Advantage. It is critical that he and his fellow senators do everything they can to defeat Senator Cassidy’s misguided “No UPCODE Act” and any other legislation that would harm our vulnerable seniors.
Mike Stegall is a former Darke County Commissioner and retired business owner.
