Here We Go Again: Rostenkowski, Health Care and the Original Town-Hall Protest

Back in 1989, the Democrat House, led by Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski, passed the ‘Catastrophic Health Care Act.’ The Act promised to expand coverage and benefits, financed by a surcharge on senior’s existing Medicare benefits. Passage of the Act sparked on outcry from seniors. CBSNews goes back into the archives to find footage of one of the protests.

The report forgets to mention that Congress quickly repealed the Catastrophic Act in response to the voter backlash. Something current Members of Congress might want to keep in mind.

The problem for today’s Democrats is that the PelosiCare bill they are being pressured to support has a lot more to anger seniors than just a modest surcharge. Between the cuts to Medicare and numerous higher taxes, more people will lose under this bill than gain. That’s very dangerous politics. Again, if a small surcharge, in exchange for more benefits, was enough to spark protests that rattled on Old Bull like Rostenkowski, imagine the backlash when seniors realize they will lose lots of benefits in exchange for…nothing. Rostenkowski was genuinely surprised by the protests. After Tuesday’s elections results, however, Democrats can’t say they weren’t warned.

Below is a list of the cuts to Medicare contained within PelosiCare:

• $170 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage (MA) which currently provides benefits to more than 11 million seniors.

o The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts these cuts “could lead many plans to limit the benefits they offer, raise their premiums, or withdraw from the program.”

o CBO also predicts 3 million seniors will lose the plan they currently have and the non-partisan Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) predicts these cuts will result in 1 in 5 seniors no longer having access to an MA plan;

• $143.6 billion in across-the-board cuts by instituting a new, permanent “productivity adjustment” to reimbursement rates for all hospitals, Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs), skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), hospice, clinical laboratories, and durable medical equipment (DME);

• $56.7 billion in cuts to home health agencies by freezing payment rates in 2010, applying the productivity adjustment, and other reimbursement changes;

• $42.3 billion in cuts to the Medicare prescription drug program (Part D) by imposing government price-controls for drugs. As a result, CBO predicts seniors’ premiums will increase by at least 20%;

• $23.9 billion in additional cuts to SNFs by freezing their payment rates in 2010;

• $14.3 billion in provider reimbursement cuts by reallocating Medicare funding nationally;

• $10.3 billion in additional cuts to hospitals by slashing reimbursements designed to cover uncompensated care;

• $9.3 billion in yet further cuts to hospitals that have a high rate of readmitted patients;

• $8.2 billion in undisclosed cuts determined by the new, unelected “Center for Medicare Innovation;”

• $5.3 billion in cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities cuts by freezing payment rates in 2010;

• $3 billion in reimbursement cuts to providers who use imaging equipment (MRI, CT scans, etc);

• $1 billion cut to physician-owned hospitals, effectively legislating these hospitals out of existence. In some communities, physician-owned hospitals are the only hospital in the community.

• $800 million in additional DME cuts (power wheelchairs); and

• Plus, $14.5 billion in additional miscellaneous cuts to the Medicare program.