Our view: Scare tactics

In reality, what the health reform does to Medicare is this: It tries to slow the growth of Medicare spending while preserving standard Medicare benefits.

One way it does that is by reining in the excessively expensive private insurance option known as "Medicare Advantage" plans.

When first created, Medicare Advantage was a way of letting private insurers offer different coverage options to seniors. An "Advantage" plan might offer extra benefits in some areas, such as dental and vision, in return for cost-saving measures like enrolling in an HMO. Seniors get to choose the plan they like, and the federal government covers most, but not all, of the premiums.

Medicare Advantage plans were not supposed to cost the government any more than traditional Medicare coverage. In fact, they were promoted as a cheaper way to cover seniors, since the private sector is supposedly always more efficient than government.

But wouldn't you know, insurance companies got Congress and President Bush to create a complicated way of paying for Medicare Advantage coverage, and the new system actually boosted how much the government pays for each senior in the program. Now the plans cost about 14 percent more per senior citizen than traditional Medicare, which is run directly by the federal government.

Some versions of health care reform would cut this subsidy to private Medicare insurers. The savings would help pay for other health care reforms. The reforms do not cut traditional Medicare benefits.

In fact, the Senate Finance Committee bill gives drug price discounts to seniors who fall into the bizarre gap in Medicare's drug coverage, known as the "donut hole."

Alaska senior citizens shouldn't be scared by changes to Medicare Advantage. The option never took hold here. We don't have a large enough market to support HMOs or other specialized offerings the insurance companies use to grab Medicare business.

Other so-called "cuts" to Medicare are changes aimed at controlling cost increases for delivering the current level of benefits. The goal is to dampen the price increases charged by hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and home health care agencies.

The ads from 60 Plus don't say that, of course. They just use the "C-word" to scare seniors about Medicare. While these ads are not an outright lie, they are simplistic distortions designed to manipulate Alaskans into serving the agenda of health care reform's powerful opponents.

BOTTOM LINE: Health care reform aims to preserve standard medicare benefits, not cut them.