Medicare Improvement Bill - Take action today!

On Wednesday the U.S. House passed important improvements to Medicare that will help seniors and people with disabilities get the health care they need. On Thursday, your two U.S. Senators, Senator Lemar Alexander and Senator Bob Corker will vote on the same bill. So call 1-800-828-0498 on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.

This bill makes several important improvements to Medicare including:

Please contact both your U.S. Senators and tell them to support the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act. The House bill is H.R. 6331. I do not know what the Senate # is.

Call 1-800-828-0498 and ask to be connected to your one of the Senators and call back to speak with the other one.

Here are the policy details:

Low-income improvements: The will would raise the asset limits for Medicare Savings Programs. These programs help low-income seniors and people with disabilities by covering the Medicare Part B premium (now about $93/month) and some Medicare cost-sharing. The asset limits have been unchanged since the 1980s ($4,000 for an individual / $6,000 for a couple). The bill would raise these limits to the still-modest level of $7,790/individual and $11,990/couple, and would index them to inflation.

Preventive and mental health services: It would increase the availability of preventive services. It would allow the addition of preventive benefits to Medicare when they are appropriate, rather than requiring a separate act of Congress. The bill also reduces what beneficiaries must pay for mental health services from the current 50 percent to the regular Medicare coinsurance rate of 20 percent.

Medicare Advantage: The bill gives seniors more protections from abusive Medicare Advantage marketing. It also reduces overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans, and slows the growth of the Private Fee-for-Service plans that have been responsible for some of the worst abuses of seniors in recent years. For more information on the need to rein in Medicare Advantage, Click here.

Call 1-800-828-0498 and ask your U.S. Senators to support the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act that was passed in the House.

Be sure thank your member of Congress who supported the House Bill: Congressmen Steve Cohen, Jim Cooper, David Davis, Lincoln Davis, Bart Gordon, John Tanner, and Zach Wamp.

Congresswomen Marsha Blackburn and Congressman John Duncan voted against the House bill.