Protect seniors and restore Medicare funding

New leadership is coming to Washington, and voters have sent Republicans to lead our nation with an obligation to take a principled stand to protect senior citizens, who have worked tirelessly to help make the United States a land of opportunity.

Lawmakers need to apply this principle in the new Congress by making sure Medicare is protected and seniors have access to quality health care coverage. For this to happen, lawmakers must roll back the cuts to hospital Medicare reimbursement payments that were a part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

{mosads}In a classic, rob Peter to pay Paul scenario, the Obama Administration and Democrats in Congress cut $700 billion in Medicare funding to pay for ACA on the backs of our seniors. In June 2009, I pointed out that “40 million plus older Americans would be forced to foot the bill for this ambitious reform scheme,”… and that “these same older Americans have been paying Medicare taxes for their entire working lives and will now be cheated out of the benefits they have earned.”

With the likely repeal of the ACA, Congress and the new Trump Administration have the opportunity to roll back these dangerous cuts, so that seniors across the country can continue to receive the care they need, deserve, and most importantly, were promised. U.S. hospitals are facing $400 billion Medicare cuts if funding is not restored with a repeal of the ACA.

These ACA Medicare payment cuts played a significant role in causing more than 70 rural hospitals to close their doors. These hospitals served some of the most vulnerable of America’s seniors. As other health care providers struggle to keep from closing, access to health care for this vulnerable population will become increasingly difficult.

Republican leaders would inevitably like to keep their promise they made to American voters to repeal ObamaCare, but they must make sure that in their haste to repeal they don’t put seniors’ health at risk — that’s a consequence none of us want. Any repeal bill should also restore the Medicare payments that ACA cut.

With the repeal of ObamaCare, there could be millions of Americans who will be uninsured leading to billions of dollars in uncompensated care, further burdening hospitals, especially in rural areas. If Medicare funding isn’t restored, hospitals will likely have an even steeper hill to climb to provide critical care for communities.

As our newly-elected Congress and President work on efforts to repeal and replace the ACA, RetireSafe will continue to remind Members of Congress that seniors are counting on them to keep the promises they made to protect Medicare and ensure that health care providers don’t shut their doors.

Thair Phillips is president and CEO of RetireSafe a grassroots advocacy seniors’ organization.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.