AARP Kansas Testimony on House Bill 2553

The following is testimony provided by AARP Kansas past state president David Wilson on March 26, 2014 before the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee in regard to the healthcare compact bill.

March 26, 2014
The Honorable Ralph Ostmeyer
Chair, Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee

Reference: House Bill 2553 –Enacting the Health Care Compact.

Good morning Chairman Ostmeyer and members of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee. My name is David Wilson and I am currently a Lead Hearth Care Volunteer and the past state president for AARP Kansas. We represent more than 333,000 members in Kansas. Thank you for this opportunity to express our comments on HB 2553. AARP opposes HB 2553 because it is a frivolous measure that does nothing at best, and at worst puts seniors, Kansans with disabilities, veterans and children at risk. The proposal has been vetoed in Arizona, New Mexico and Montana.
When I took the post of AARP Kansas State President over eight years ago, our members told me, “Don’t let the politicians hurt Medicare or Social Security.” That is why I am here today to testify in opposition to House Bill 2553, which would make Kansas part of an Interstate Health Care Compact.
This bill would give the state all of the federal health care funding for Medicare, Medicaid, and the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program and other health care programs and allow the state to determine how those funds would be spent and how those programs would operate. It is important to note that retired veterans would also be impacted since most fully retired veterans that are 65+ get their health care via Medicare with Tricare as supplemental coverage. So if you bring Medicare into the compact, you bring veterans retirement health care in as well!
Tucked into this is the caveat that the bill is not effective until Congress consents to the right of states to enter the compact and suspend the operation of any conflicting federal law. Congress will never give that consent.
Medicare is one of the most popular federal programs in the country. A Harris Poll released in 2012 found that 88 percent of those polled support the health care program for seniors. In fact Medicare ranked as the most popular program with 57 percent supporting it a great deal and 31 percent supporting it somewhat. Medicare works fine the way it is.
It would be a serious mistake to turn this program over to the state. Since 1965, Medicare beneficiaries have received guaranteed benefits and protections and have never once had to worry about their Medicare. In fact, over the years, their Medicare has been improved. For example, in 2013 some 40,480 Kansas residents on Medicare saved $32,404,832 on their prescription drugs – thanks to the closing of the “donut hole” for prescriptions under the Affordable Care Act – or an average discount per beneficiary of $801. Nationally, 7.9 million people who are on Medicare have saved over $9.927 billion on prescription drugs under the Affordable Care Act and its provision closing the “donut hole. The Affordable Care Act provides that people with Medicare Part D who fall into the donut hole this year will receive discounts and savings of about 53 percent on the cost of brand name drugs and about 28 percent on the cost of generic drugs. These savings and Medicare coverage will increase until 2020, when the donut hole will be fully closed.
By joining a health care compact seniors could find themselves losing these kinds of savings and being thrown into a whole new health care system with different benefits, fewer choices, and less access to care. Why risk the health care and security of the over 448,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Kansas - approximately 16 percent of the total Kansas population?
There is a national conversation now underway on how to ensure the future of Medicare for the country. Both Republicans and Democrats are looking at ways to protect this program so it can continue to provide health care coverage for seniors and those who are disabled and remain in place for future generations. As the Medicare Trustees Report showed, Medicare will be solvent for the next 12 years. There is time to address the needs of the program and put it on a firmer financial foundation for the future. What is not needed is a plan to dismantle the program and dole out its funds to states to operate a fractured and fragmented program.
So many questions come to mind about how a compact would work and there are so few answers. Who would be responsible for the state’s Medicare funds? Won’t this make it more difficult to recruit doctors? Will the state cut benefits below what the federal government now provides? What will happen if more funding is needed for Medicaid? Will those dollars come from the almost 450 thousand Medicare recipients in Kansas? Is Kansas really willing to take on health care service to almost a half million more people? What you are doing is asking the people of Kansas to buy a pig in a poke with the promise that IF Congress agrees to provide the funding then Kansas can recreate a system that is already in place and working. While I believe there are many things that we in Kansas do better than other states and other governments, I am not sure we should create a whole new level of bureaucracy just to see if we can do better with Medicare.
This bill will jeopardize security, choice and benefits for seniors, including veterans and people with disabilities in Kansas who rely on the Medicare program for their health care coverage. This bill is scary because it carries with it impacts and consequences for all Kansans who rely on federal laws to protect their health care. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Under the Compact bill, Kansas citizens could lose many rights and protections that they don’t even realize are in danger.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer our opposition to HB 2553. We respectfully request that you oppose this bill.
Respectfully,
David Wilson

Attachments:
Montana and Arizona governor’s veto message

References:
The Policy Book, AARP Public Policies, 2013-2014.
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation