RUSH: Here’s C.J. in Fort Worth, Texas. I’m glad you waited, C.J. Welcome to the program.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s G.J., and dittos from Texas. I’ve been listening for many years.
RUSH: Thank you very much. I’m sorry. Is it G.J.or D.J.?
CALLER: G as in George.
RUSH: George. Okay. Well, some must call you J.J., I’m sure, but G.J. it is.
CALLER: It is. Okay. I’ve been listening to you talk about how Obama says that Medicare Advantage’s costs may go up for some seniors. I am 75, a seasoned citizen on Medicare Advantage. I’d just like to read a couple things to you from a couple of letters I received and explain my position, if I might. This is a letter entitled: ‘Medicare and the New Health Care Law,’ dated May of 2010, a message from Kathleen Sebelius. ‘Your guaranteed Medicare benefits won’t change whether you get them through original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan.’
RUSH: Wait a second, wait a second. You got a letter from the secretary —
CALLER: I did.
RUSH: — Kathleen Sebelius —
CALLER: I did.
RUSH: — and it says that your Medicare benefits will not change?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: And then another little quote here. ‘During open enrollment this fall you will continue to have a choice between original Medicare and a Medicare Advantage plan.’
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: ‘If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan, you will still receive guaranteed medical benefits.’ That was in May. On October 2 I get a letter from my insurance company that says, ‘Secure Horizons Medicare Direct Retiree Plan,’ that’s a Medicare Advantage plan.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: ‘A health plan with a Medicare contract will no longer operate as of January 1, 2011. So your coverage through Secure Horizons, Medicare Direct Retiree Plan will end December 31, 2010. ‘ I’ve been going to meetings for the last week and a half about this, trying to decide what to do.
RUSH: What meetings? Who’s having the meeting?
CALLER: With insurance representatives.
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: Trying to make a decision. Now, there are thousands of us, Rush, in this area. I talked to the agent and he said, ‘There are thousands of people in the same boat that you are.’ My latest meeting was yesterday with my insurance agent, and it’s gonna cost me at least $3,600 for my new plan.
RUSH: Oh, no, no, no. Obama said it’s going to down $2,500.
CALLER: Yeah, I know, that’s what he said. But the actuality and the truth is that it’s gonna cost me $3,600 at least.
RUSH: Well, versus what are you paying now?
CALLER: I had a good plan. I had no premium because I didn’t have prescription drug coverage. I had it on a separate plan.
RUSH: So you had basically no premium, you just had a deductible?
CALLER: Yeah, I was filled with deductibles and $225 a day for a hospital stay and that kind of thing. But lots of people had the same plan, you know, that they pay premium. Depends on your options.
RUSH: Well, I’ve seen stories this is happening all over the country.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: They told you that a lot of people are in the same boat you are, happening all over the country. Companies are stopping coverage, not offering it anymore.
CALLER: That’s exactly right. That’s the truth. And, you know, you want the truth; that’s the truth.
RUSH: And why? Why aren’t they offering it?
CALLER: I don’t know.
RUSH: They can’t afford it! The whole point of health care is to do just this. The whole point is to get all of these insurance companies eventually out of business, G.J., so that people like you will eventually have nowhere to go but —
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: — the federal exchanges or — they’re not calling it single payer, but the public option. I mean that’s where this all is aimed.
CALLER: Their goal is to destroy the Advantage plan, that’s exactly where they’re headed.
RUSH: Well, the problem for them is that this wasn’t supposed to happen until after the 2012 election.
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: But now it’s happening. The Democrats think they’re so smart, they pass all these laws that are going to punish people, and they think people are just going to sit around and be punished. Well, that isn’t going to happen. They’re going to find a way to escape the punishment. If it means stopping offering this coverage that’s what they’re going to do. Now, they’re not supposed to do this ’til 2013 so Obama can’t take the hit for it in his reelection but it’s going to happen next year, and I guarantee you the White House is not happy about it and why this story is out today in The Politico. The regime is conceding that some ‘seniors may have to dig deeper into their wallets next year thanks to the health care law. The new analysis obtained by POLITICO finds the health care overhaul will result in increased out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare Advantage plans.
‘Richard Foster, the actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, also tells Senate Republicans that the overhaul will result in ‘less generous benefit packages’ for Medicare Advantage plans next year. Foster is independent from the administration and non-partisan. Democrats have long contended that Medicare Advantage plans — private insurance alternatives to Medicare — overpay private insurers, increasing premiums for everyone, and needs to be reformulated. But Republicans say dramatic changes to the program mean some seniors won’t be able to keep their plans — a promise President Barack Obama made during the reform debate.’ (imitating Obama) ‘You want to keep your plan, you want to keep your doctor, you can.’ This is going to affect 11 million current beneficiaries who are relying on the program. The regime is not even trying to say that this is not going to happen. They’re trying to limit the damage, but they’re not even trying to lie their way out of this.
Now, I know a lot of people are looking at this and, ‘Rush, this is senior citizens, I mean this is 75 years old and 60 years old.’ Everybody should pay attention to this because someday this is gonna affect everybody. It’s gonna start in waves, but it’s going to affect everybody. Everybody’s premiums are gonna go up. Everybody’s costs are gonna go up except the rare people who are gonna, quote, unquote, get it free, and there are some of those by design. They are Obama voters in a bunch of different categories. G.J., thanks for the call. I appreciate it.
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RUSH: Jacksonville, Florida, this is Susie. Welcome to the EIB Network. Great to have you here.
CALLER: Hello, Rush?
RUSH: Hi.
CALLER: Basically Obama wants to get rid of the old people. He’s reducing the health care, this ties in with your Medicare caller.
RUSH: Death panels.
CALLER: Death panels. Because if they die, then they’re also off Social Security rolls.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: And they don’t have to pay for that. Congress got their cost-of-living increase in 2009 —
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: — 2.8 percent of $174,000 —
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: — 2010 10% —
RUSH: That’s right.
CALLER: — came to $3,480 —
RUSH: But you on Social Security, you’re not getting your cost-of-living. All you’re getting is a check when you die. What good does that do you? They send out checks to dead people, Social Security cost of living compensation checks. And don’t think the ChiComs are not involved in this. For a second don’t think that’s not the case. There’s Obama promising everybody $2500 premium reduction, you get to keep your doctor, get to keep your insurance plan, then you find out that if you’re on Medicare Advantage, you are SOL. You are fini. The plan is being canceled. The insurance companies can’t — and this is by design, purely by design. And the reason why the Social Security crowd is not getting their cost-of-living increase is ’cause that money is going to youthful, younger union thug type voters, ACORN type voters who organize, round up votes and vote themselves for Obama.
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RUSH: Yes, I checked the e-mail. ‘Rush, come on, you know, you say these things and you expect just to get away with it. Why does Obama not like old people?’ Come on, folks, I mean I explain these things over and over again. I’ll be glad to do it again, but at some point start listening. Obama said that there are no shovel-ready jobs. The only thing shovel-ready are seasoned citizens. In his world, seasoned citizens are shovel-ready. And the reason is, they remember the country the way it was, and they can teach people the way it was, and he doesn’t want that to be remembered, and nor do a lot of other Democrats.