Myths about Obamacare

MYTH 1: The new law cuts Medicare drastically, so I won't be able to get quality health care.

The Affordable Care Act prohibits cuts to guaranteed Medicare benefits. Provisions to help curb the soaring costs of Medicare include taxing high-premium plans (beginning in  2018), cracking down on fraud and waste, and preventive care to avert chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes, which cost billions. 

By 2020 the law closes the Medicare Part D prescription drug "doughnut hole," in which Medicare beneficiaries pay full price for prescription drugs after exceeding a dollar limit each year. There will be ever-increasing discounts till 2020.

MYTH 2: Medicare Advantage plans will be cut or taken away.

The Affordable Care Act, referred to as Obamacare by critics, does not eliminate Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately administered but cost taxpayers 14 percent more per enrollee than the traditional Medicare program. 

MYTH 3: I'll have to wait longer to see my doctor — or I won't be able to see my doctor at all.

"If your current plan allows you to see any physician in the plan, nothing will change," says Shana Alex Lavarreda,  director of health insurance studies at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

MYTH 4: If I have Medicare, I will need to get more or different insurance.

Stuart Guterman, vice president of the Commonwealth Fund, said "Medicare beneficiaries will continue to have Medicare, and there's no requirement that they get additional coverage beyond what they already have."

To read the full article by Beth Howard in the September 2012 AARP The Magazine, click on http://www.aarp.org/health/health-insurance/info-09-2012/medicare-and-health-care-reform-myths.html