The New York Times
September 23rd, 2011
Concerning: In Cuts to Health Programs, Experts See Difficult Task in Protecting Patients by Robert Pear
Dear Editor,
A few days ago in his article, Robert Pear reported that if cuts to Medicare and Medicaid are made there is a very substantial risk that beneficiaries access and level of healthcare will be effected. As a 4th year public health major at the University of California-Berkeley I believe with the current state of the federal budget and with ever rising healthcare costs, the costs of Medicare and Medicaid must be addressed but in a way that beneficiaries will retain the level of medical coverage they need and deserve. If cuts are made, there needs to be another step in health reform, putting some kind of law in place that would force doctors to take a certain number of new Medicare and Medicaid patients per year. Even though the political and administrative feasibility of this might seem daunting, with cuts there cannot be a declining level of coverage.
Sincerely,
Erin Felton
2530 Dwight Way #7
Berkeley, CA 94704
310-795-2154
erin.felton09@gmail.com
It is very hard to estimate the long term effects of the proposed budget cuts to Medicare, and I think President Obama must carefully consider the points made in this article ("In Cuts to Health Programs, Experts See Difficult Task in Protecting Patients") when creating his recommendations to Congress. Cutting essential programs to one of the neediest populations is sure to only create larger programs that will be more expensive to fix in the future. For example, in an effort to solve the state’s own budget problems, California cut funding to Adult Day Health Care programs. This disastrous decision will either lead to more caregiver’s staying at home, decreasing productivity, the elderly staying by themselves at home, leading to more hospitalizations, or force caregivers to place the elderly in nursing homes – all more expensive options than Adult Day Health Care. In my opinion, while cutting spending in Medicare programs will create a short-term solution to the budget crisis, it will only increase spending requirements in the long term. In regards to the recommendation in the Letter to the Editor of forcing doctors to take Medicare and Medicaid patients, I think in theory this will help solve the problem, but it is not very feasible. Along the same lines though, the government should provide incentives to motivate doctors to see and treat these patients.
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