The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer ran an excellent report on Monday dissecting the crazy rumors and charges about changes to Medicare under health reform legislation now under consideration. Some of the most extreme rumors–mandatory euthanasia and the like–have been designed by opponents to scare retirees and appear to be getting the job done in some cases.

The NewsHour story features interviews with two Medicare experts:

–Gail Wilensky, a former director of the federal agency overseeing Medicare and a former adviser to the first President Bush. She’s a senior fellow at Project HOPE, a foundation for international health education.

–Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center, a national nonprofit advocacy group and  former New York state deputy secretary for health and human services.

The story knocks down the rumors and underscores some of the good news contained in the health care bill, such as elimination of the Medicare Part D prescription drug doughnut hole coverage gap; the gap starts when beneficiaries exceed $2,510 in coverage for a given year. At that point, the beneficiary pays 100 percent of costs up to $4,500, when so-called “catastrophic coverage” kicks in. View the video here, or read the transcript.

Related posts:

1. Why health insurance reform will be good for Medicare recipients
2. Misunderstandings are rampant on health care reform and Medicare
3. How health reform law impacts retirement planning
4. What business really thinks about health reform
5. Fidelity: Retiree health costs falling, and reform gets the credit

Tags | Medicare