Rumors and Alarming Information

Have you had this happen to you?

You’re reading through your email and one sets your nerves on edge.

The email looks and sounds official, but makes a startling claim. You believe it because it was sent by someone you trust. 

The problem is that the message may be FALSE.

I’ve recently received calls from frightened clients who have heard about dramatic changes in Medicare. One stated that “Obamacare” will not pay for surgery for people over the age of 70. Another claimed that patients age 76 and older must be admitted to the hospital by their primary care physicians in order to be covered by Medicare. Both are completely false.

There are no provisions in the health-care law that authorizes changes in care based on age. In fact, the Independent Payment Advisory Board which was established to help control the growth in Medicare costs is prohibited from rationing care, from making decisions about what benefits will or won’t be covered, and from increasing beneficiaries’ premiums or cost sharing.

If you receive emails with alarming claims about Medicare or “Obamacare,” you can do some detective work to check the validity of a story by looking it up on factcheck.org or snopes.com.

In the meantime, you have my commitment that I will keep you informed of any major changes that will affect Medicare, Medicare Advantage Plans and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare.) Important updates will be reported on my website, in our newsletter and in articles I write for local newspapers and blogs.