As a service to Dr. Morris and your readers, re: his last letter to the editor, in the New Hyde Park Courier of April 18, he wrote twice the word “lier.” At first I thought he meant “Long Islander” but on second reading, I realized he meant to say “liar” (a prevaricator).
He also referred to the last AARP magazine. March 2014. The latest edition, April, has not been delivered in my area. So I have to assume he means this month is the March issue. Not one word in the latest issue deals with AARP advice to its members to avoid, I quote Dr. M. “……..the following unimportant but expensive procedures………” .
I suggest that if letters are accepted for publication there should be some attempt at editing and fact checking!
Now to a response:
Well Dr. Morris, you really put you foot in your mouth this time!
In your letter to the editor about Obamacare helping AARP make money, you cite the fact that AARP has 30 lobbyists in Washington. My goodness, how shocking! Do you know that public information on the number of lobbyists in Washington, arranged by interest groups, is readily available?
In 2013, there were 2,901 lobbyists for the healthcare industry, divided as follows:
Health Professionals 807
Health Services/HMOs 854
Hospitals/Nursing Homes 877
Miscellaneous Health 159
Pharmaceuticals 1,424
Poor little AARP, with only 30, as you mention, and they have to serve the interests of all the seniors!
The real problem is that, with so many lobbyists, the health-care industry persuaded our Congress to listen to all those who wanted to maximize their profits. The law is a good start, but we still have a long way to go toward more access, choice and efficiency. Rome was not built in a day.
Furthermore, in your haste to tarnish AARP you imply that you must get Medigap coverage from AARP, or perhaps you do not even seem to know that you are not forced to get your Medigap coverage for the 20 percent not paid by Medicare.
AARP offers many services directly to its members, but the insurance arm is just another private insurer. Don’t you know that literally hundreds of private insurance companies offer Medigap policies to cover the 20 percent?
Did you even try to get your coverage from one of those companies? You could plead ignorance, or is it just too obvious that you are determined to distort the realities of the Affordable Care Act/ Obamacare?
You are so eager to blame the law, which your Congress passed, and cannot seem to repeal, to satisfy you.
As the law was written, no not-for-profit profit insurer was allowed to offer any healthcare coverage, either plans for the general population or for seniors. Therefore, every insurer makes a profit.
How many times are you going to repeat, as an aside, that $716 billion was withdrawn from Medicare.
Can you explain, coherently, the effect of that action? Spending does not decrease in Medicare; the reduction is from anticipated levels of spending in the 10 years from 2013-2022.
It depends on changes in the law that decrease payments to providers, not Medicare beneficiaries, and for example, reduces subsidies to HMO’s which ended up being more profits for insurance companies, and reduces the cost of drugs.
The vast irony in this discussion of costs is that our lawmakers never put enough money in budgets for monitoring programs.
They don’t see that more oversight and auditing can reduce abuse and corruption, or perhaps they just don’t want to disrupt the schemes of those who fatten their campaign treasuries.
I wish I did not have to challenge misinterpretations that lead to confusing the public, but misinformation is highly responsible for obscuring what is good about Obamacare, in the face of the reality that opponents have offered no sensible alternatives.
Esther Confino
New Hyde Park
