Congresswoman Cheri Bustos Alerts Illinois Seniors To Medicare Open Enrollment Period
Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) reminded Illinois seniors of the Medicare open enrollment period that began earlier this week across the country. Medicare open enrollment is the period during which seniors can make changes to their Medicare plan and sign up for 2014 coverage. Medicare open enrollment goes through December 7th and is not connected to, nor impacted, by the recent opening of the Affordable Care Act health care exchanges.
“For close to fifty years, Medicare has provided millions of middle class Illinoisans with quality and dependable health care in retirement,” said Congresswoman Cheri Bustos. “Today, I urge all seniors across our region who want to make changes to their Medicare plan or to sign up for 2014 coverage to participate in the Medicare open enrollment period that runs through December 7th.”
On Tuesday, Bustos joined with Congressman Dave Loebsack (IA-02) to ensure that Medicare open enrollment was not affected by the recent reckless and irresponsible government shutdown. In a joint letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner, Bustos and Loebsack urged her to make sure that any shutdown related delays or problems surrounding Medicare open enrollment are swiftly addressed. A copy of the Bustos-Loebsack letter can be found HERE.
Last month, Bustos’ wrote a joint op-ed with Max Richtman, the President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. In the op-ed Bustos and Richtman discussed their recent telephone town hall with Illinois seniors on the importance of protecting Medicare and Social Security. The op-ed can be found HERE.
In August, Bustos was honored by the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans for her strong support for both Medicare and Social Security and her opposition to switching to a so-called “chained CPI” system in calculating Social Security benefits.
According to AARP’s Public Policy Institute, using chained CPI to replace the existing method of calculating Social Security benefits “would have a detrimental impact on the economic well-being of older and disabled Americans and their family members who receive benefits from Social Security.” Over time, these cuts could significantly reduce benefits for seniors – making it more difficult for those living on Social Security to make ends meet. According to the AARP, chained CPI would reduce the expected benefit increase each year, and reductions would grow larger over time.
In March, Bustos held a telephone town hall with Congressman Chris Van Hollen from Maryland, the highest ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, to discuss the disastrous Ryan Budget that would end Medicare as we know it.