Health care alert: Many seniors vague on health care reform

Seniors have been contacting their congressional representatives with a flood of questions about how reform would affect them. Representative Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.) reported that his office has received “hundreds of calls” from older people eager to understand the proposed legislation. The absence of a clear-cut plan may be adding to voters’ uncertainty.

Persuading seniors that reform is necessary may be the biggest obstacle facing the Obama administration. A recent CNN poll revealed that a majority of voters over 50 are against the reform effort, while a majority of those under 50 supported it.

One issue that seems to be confusing seniors is the fact that Medicare is a government-run healthcare plan. Representative John Tanner (D-Tenn.) has received calls from panicked seniors saying they are happy with Medicare and don’t want the government to take it over.

Legislators have been careful not to alter the basic services provided by Medicare in structuring their reform proposal. There has been no proposal to ration care, as charged by reform critics. As Obama stressed in a recent AARP teleconference, “Nobody is talking about reducing Medicare benefits.” On the contrary, some Medicare benefits could be improved. For example, the reform legislation would close a gap in prescriptions under the current Medicare plan.