On Monday, February 6, Dr. Marvin Malek, past president of Vermont Physicians for a National Health Program (VT PNHP), will give a presentation on the privatization of Medicare.
This is a change from the original date of January 25.
The program, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Vermont, will take place at 5:30 pm, in the Hayes Room at Kellogg Hubbard Library in Montpelier. Dr. Malek will discuss Medicare Advantage, DCEs, and the new ACO/REACH program. The event is co-sponsored by VT PNHP, Vermont Health Care for All, VT State Employees Association, and Vermont Workers’ Center.
For the first 20 years after its implementation in 1965, the Medicare program reimbursed hospitals and doctors directly for the care they provided to Medicare enrollees. Beginning in 1985, some Medicare recipients were given the option of electing to have their benefit managed by a private company, currently known as the Medicare Advantage program. Last year, officials in the Medicare program announced that by the year 2030, they would be involuntarily enrolling the remaining Medicare enrollees into another managed care program—the ACO/REACH program.
The goal of the February 6 program is to discuss the impacts of these privatization initiatives on the care that Medicare beneficiaries receive, on the costs Medicare beneficiaries will be facing, and the impacts of these changes on the financial stability of the Medicare program.
The program will be recorded by Onion River Community Access and will be available online later at https://www.orcamedia.net.
VSEA’s Legislative Team is once again publishing an online, weekly schedule of hearings and testimony about issues important to state employees and to the services you deliver.
Note: Sometimes a meeting will start late, or won’t stream live for one reason or another, but visit the committee’s page a few hours afterward to see if the meeting you were interested in has now posted for viewing.
Pair Issues Statement On Medicare Advantage Saying “State retirees… deserve the assurance that the healthcare benefits they were promised will be protected.”
In advance of Governor Scott’s 2023 Budget Address this afternoon, Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore Philip Baruth and Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives Jill Krowinski have issued a joint statement expressing their deep reservations about the Governor’s threats to force State retirees into Medicare Advantage plans. Representative Krowinski and Senator Baruth state unambiguously that “State retirees… deserve the assurance that the healthcare benefits they were promised will be protected.”
VSEA will host a Retiree Lobby Day on February 8 where retirees from across the state can engage with their legislators about Medicare Advantage, followed by a legislative dinner with elected officials at VSEA Headquarters.
Photo from a 2020 VSEA Legislative Dinner. This year, members and retirees will be able to meet with lawmakers in person again.
For the first time since the COVID outbreak, VSEA’s Legislative Committee will again be hosting a series of legislative dinners at VSEA’s headquarters in Montpelier, in addition to continuing to offer members and retirees the option to participate online. The dinners are a great way for members and retirees to meet with key decision-makers outside the State House.
Here is the 2023 schedule with dinner topics. Each dinner will begin at 5:45 p.m.
