Suzanne: Welcome back to answer for Elders Radio Network. And we are here with Kristine Grow, who is the spokesperson for the Coalition for Medicare Choices. And we’ve been talking about Medicare Advantage this hour — how it’s structured, what your organization does, how you keep people accountable, and you’re the person that keep the organization, that keeps things on the up and up and certainly a little bit of working with bipartisan initiatives, and you’re based in Washington DC. Is that correct, Kristine?
Kristine Grow: That’s right. Our organization is the Coalition for Medicare Choices and we represent millions of seniors across America who choose Medicare Advantage for their coverage. We are based in D.C. We are active in all states across the country. We reach out to our lawmakers at their state offices and at their health office as well as the White House to let them know how important Medicare Advantage is and how it needs to be protected for the future years.
Suzanne: Absolutely. So tell us a little bit about oversight. You’re in the heartbeat of Congress, a very divided congress. What goes on in this world of Medicare at Congress?
Kristine Grow: Well, the good news is, from our perspective, is that Medicare Advantage has long enjoyed strong bipartisan support. And it’s one of those rare areas where we have had strong bipartisan support and that has continued even this year. There were more than 60 senators who signed onto a letter to the administration about the importance of protecting Medicare Advantage. So that is important. We do have some concerns right now that, as the administration is thinking about investments into the program for 2024, they’ve just made some proposals that would cut billions of dollars out of the program. And at a time when it does have such strong support and where the Medicare trustees are projecting that Medicare costs per enrollee are going to go up 5% for next year. On average cutting billions of the program is just really the wrong direction for Americans, especially when the Medicare Advantage program has had such a strong history of adding value, improving health outcomes and saving costs for seniors and taxpayers.
Suzanne: I can certainly see that that’s an initiative that we wanna protect and obviously reaching out to your political leaders with your concerns is important. But can they also reach out through you? How can the general public interact with you?
Kristine Grow: Our coalition is available at MedicareChoices.org. We have a lot of so stories from our members who are seniors all across the country about their experiences and their health journeys. Lots of videos that you can look at lots of information you can review. We also have a lot of tools out there that make it easy for you to reach out to your member of Congress and to the White House to tell them how important it is to protect Medicare Advantage that’s important.
Suzanne:And then also you have representatives across the country, because I’ve read on your website, you have everywhere including Puerto Rico and DC. Correct. That’s right and with Puerto Rico, we’re very worried in particular because a study just came out about these proposals for next year that shows that the people of Puerto Rico will have an inordinate impact from those proposals. In fact, they could see cuts of about 11%. So this is something that really needs to be reconsidered and revisited.
Suzanne: Well, it certainly is and, and certainly I can appreciate being mindful of spending um in Congress and in our country. On the other hand, what would happen if those cuts happen? It would be a devastation to many in many, many areas. I mean, I can imagine with so many people just going a doctor, they’re not gonna go to a doctor, they’re not gonna seek out health care, things like that because they can’t afford to pay it out of pocket. And that’s the challenge that we have.
Kristine Grow: That’s right. And it would impact those who are sickest and lowest income the most. So it’s really important for people to reach out to the White House to look up their concerns.
Suzanne: Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Kristine, we’re gonna go into our next segment talking about cuts on the horizons, things like that. But what we’d love to do is talk a little bit to our listeners about things that they could do. And what is your website again?
Kristine Grow: It’s MedicareChoices.org.
Suzanne: G. That’s right. MedicareChoices.org, and Kristine, thank you. It’s so important for you to be on this show and talking about the different aspects now is as far as is working with your congress person. Obviously, you can get that on your state website or find that if you’re not sure who to reach out to, but it would be your actual representative and your senator as well as your political leaders. And how did the state… you know what, we’re gonna talk about that in the next segment. I’m gonna ask you another question about States, be right back.
