WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Lois Capps today strongly denounced the decision of two major Medicare Plus Choice private insurers to drop coverage for seniors in areas of Ventura County. The Center for Medicare Services (CMS) announced today that Blue Cross of California is dropping 2,937 seniors and Kaiser Foundation is dropping 3,500 seniors from coverage. Those seniors affected by these plans will be notified by October 1.
Congress created the Medicare Plus Choice plan in 1997 to contract with private insurance companies in order to provide the option of additional coverage through private managed care plans. Since then, criticism of the program has grown as plans across the country have raised rates, cut benefits, then dropped out of the program altogether.
Capps urged affected seniors not to cancel any coverage at this time and to contact the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) at 1-800-434-0222 for additional guidance. HICAP can help with questions and problems regarding Medicare coverage, understanding supplemental health insurance coverage, assistance with filing claims and appeals, and understanding Medicare health plan choices. Seniors may also access the federal government’s Medicare website at www.medicare.gov.
Congresswoman Capps issued this statement today on the withdrawal of Blue Cross of California and Kaiser Foundation from the Medicare Plus Choice program in Ventura County:
“This is yet another example of why Congress simply must modernize the Medicare program to provide the benefits today’s seniors need – most notably, prescription drug coverage. As the cost of prescription drugs and other health care services have skyrocketed, seniors have become desperate for additional coverage. They have been lured into the private insurance plans offered by Medicare Plus Choice because Congress has not acted to improve the basic Medicare program they know and trust. But the Medicare Plus Choice plans do not work. They have abandoned our seniors, and proven that we cannot trust the private insurance industry to provide affordable, reliable health care for seniors and the disabled.
“Now, nearly 6,500 seniors in Ventura County will be left high and dry, without the health coverage that they bought into to supplement Medicare. Seniors will lose the benefits they were promised, and the private insurance plans will leave town for more profitable ventures elsewhere.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates why turning over Medicare to private insurance plans is a risky and unacceptable proposition. That is why I voted against the Republican plan this year. I will not support any scheme that would further privatize the Medicare program and leave seniors without a guarantee of health care coverage. For seniors in Ventura County and across our nation, I will continue to fight for a prescription drug benefit that is affordable, reliable, and available to all seniors and disabled people within the Medicare program.”
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