Tell Congress and the Administration: Reform Medicare & Medicaid, Don't Cut Them!

87 million Americans receive health coverage from either Medicare or Medicaid. Of those, over 80% say that the quality of their health care is excellent or good. That's nearly 70 million potential voters who don’t want you to cut their health care.

It's time for all policy-makers, to embrace real solutions that save money and STRENGTHEN these programs:

·       Negotiate Drug Prices with Pharmaceutical Companies - Negotiating drug prices for Medicare would save taxpayers billions of dollars – potentially over $200 billion over ten years.

·       Stop Paying Private Medicare Plans Anything More Than Traditional Medicare - Medicare pays, on average, 10% more for beneficiaries enrolled in private insurance (Medicare Advantage or MA plans) than for comparable beneficiaries enrolled in traditional Medicare. That's just wasted money.

·        Include a Drug Benefit in Traditional Medicare - Traditional Medicare's lower administrative costs would free up money for quality care, would result in lower drug prices for beneficiaries, and save taxpayers over $20 billion a year.

·       Extend Medicaid Drug Rebates to Medicare Dual Eligibles - Extending rebates for dual eligibles would save at least $30 billion over ten years.

·       Let People Between 55 and 65 Enroll In Medicare - Allowing this healthier population to enroll in Medicare would add revenue for people who will typically need less care and fewer services than older and disabled enrollees.

·       Let the Affordable Care Act Do Its Job.  Repealing or defunding ACA would add $230 billion to the deficit while ignoring the real issue of rising overall health care costs in our country.

Tell the administration and Congress that if they allow Medicare and Medicaid to be cut, 2012 will be a very hard year.