“Protect Medicare” Community Meeting in Wailuku

AARP Hawaiʻi is holding a “Protect Medicare” Community Meeting on Monday, Feb. 27, in Wailuku to talk about proposals in Congress to change Medicare in ways that could dramatically increase health care costs and risks for current and future retirees.

AARP has launched a nationwide campaign to reject a proposal to turn Medicare into a voucher system saying that would raise costs for seniors and future retirees by eliminating a guaranteed level of coverage and shift costs to people on Medicare.

According to AARP, The proposal in Congress would give people on Medicare a set dollar amount to purchase insurance from private companies and if the amount isn’t sufficient, they would pay the difference or get less coverage.

AARP is also fighting what they have dubbed an “age tax.”  The organization has called the proposal and “unfair penalty” on older adults that would allow insurance companies to charge 50- to 64-year-olds as much as five times more than what everyone else pays for the same health coverage. If the bill passes, the average 60- year-old could pay over $3,000 more a year, according to the AARP.

The forum will look at efforts to preserve parts of the Affordable Care Act that benefit older Americans. This includes a ban on denying health insurance to people with pre-existing conditions and efforts to close the donut hole in prescription drug coverage.

The public is invited to learn more and share their concerns.  Attendees will also receive an update on state legislation affecting seniors.

The Maui “Protect Medicare” Community Meeting will be held at 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 27, at Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc. Classroom 2, 99 Mahalani St., in Wailuku. There is no cost to attend, but please RSVP at 877-926-8300 or online.