Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome. We have Darren Grubb here with us today and Darren is with mam. That is Medicare Advantage Majority. First of all, good morning.
Sir, Good morning, how are you, Tom?
And so? Tell us about your organization and tell us about the program itself and what our folks need to know about the program that they don't know already.
Yeah, Medicare Advantage Majority. We are a non part of the non profit organization dedicated to protecting, in strengthening the Medicare Advantage Program, which serves over thirty four million seniors and people with disabilities around the country, you know, including sixty nune percent of Latino seniors and sixty five percent of Black seniors. In Oklahoma alone, there are more than three hundred and thirty eight thousand seniors in the Medicare
Advantage Program, a good chunk of your population. And so you know, our coalition is powered by hundreds of thousand local advocates nationwide, including venice series and care givers and healthcare providers and communities leaders. Really the entire care giving ecosystem and the appeal of Medicare advantages that it delivers comprehensive, high quality and affordable care that goes beyond traditional fee for service Medicare, offering benefits like dental, vision, healing, in
home care. Those are services that are not available on many of the traditional Medicare plans. And importantly, unlike traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage provides prescription drug coverage and cats on out of pocket costs, which gives a senior's financial peace of mind, especially during the high cost inflationary times that we found
ourselves and right now. So you know, it's an important program, you know, particularly for diverse and lower income populations, offering that reliable, low cost health care coverage.
And we just came out of a major budget fight and Medicare Advantage was ultimately left untouched in reconciliation. What you read on the program as it stands after that process.
Yeah, you know, we were encouraged the members of the House and Cents did not include language that would cut fung in for Medicare Advantage during the During the dudget negotiations, I'll say there several Senate members floated the idea of adding provisions in their version of the Senate side that would undermine critical elements of Medicare advantage and essentially cut funding.
But over the last month, we saw seniors around the country make their voices heard, and our Dressroots Army was happy to stand with them and they helped to mobilize and ensure that it didn't happen. During that process, your seniors know that the custom Medicare advantagement, they could lose actives to those benefits that I mentioned, vision and hearing, transportation wellness programs, benefits that really allow seniors to age
safely and independently. And bottom line, you know, our message to Congress was clear President Trump campaign on protective Medicare. Any proposal that undermines Medicare advantage has the potential to harm seniors and it goes against the will of voter since in the President's Republican majorities of Washington.
Now it is cutting season in Washington, d C. And we know it's it's been on time so far. But we can appreciate all the needs to rein in government spending, of course, but are you a little bit worried that this posture could impact the Medicare advantage program in ongoing budget debates? And what's the history of Congressional or administration support for Medicare advantage.
Yeah, you know, despite really high satisfaction rates for beneficiaries around the country and pretty bipartisan supporting, and there has been effort there having efforts in the past several administrations to cut Medicare advantage, and that we totally understand that the fire in the many ways the need to cut cost of the federal government, but it cannot be done on the on the backs and at the expense of the healthcare that our seniors and their families rely on.
John We recently did a serving seniors nationwide and we asked this question and the response was clear. A majority fifty three percent believe that the federal government should actually increase funding for Medicare advantage, not cut it. And sixty nine percent of seniors are less likely to vote for a member of Congress who supports cuts. And here's why
the fundiness cut. Seniors are going to pay higher premiums, they're going to pay higher deductibles where they have higher out of pocket costs the boards of twenty five hundred dollars per year, and they're going to have less access to the doctors and the services they need. And again, in the time of high inflation, still trying to get that under control. Medicare advantages casts them out of pocket
costs are important, especially for seniors on fixed incomes. And one more thing, the majority of seniors and roles of Medicare advantage have incomes under twenty five thousand dollars per year. And so we believe that seniors message of Congress is pretty clear.
Now. The House Ways and Means, Health and Oversight Communities are holding a joint hearing a little bit later today on Medicare advantage. So, Darren, what should we be watching for and what's at stake at this moment?
You know, I'll say you a couple of things. We will be watching for how members of Congress react to what they have heard from seniors over the past few weeks. You know, seniors are a critical voting block. In the presidential election of twenty twenty four, twenty years sorry, In the presidential election of twenty twenty four, seniors turned out at the highest rate of eligibility. Seventy five percent of seniors over age sixty five voted. That was the highest
turnout of any demographic group. Very similar trains in the midterms in twenty twenty two. And so we know that seniors can decide elections. And again, if members of Congress are paying attention, they will have heard loud and clear from seniors who said, do not touch Medicare advantage because we rely on it, We've earned it. It's beneficially no only for us, that our families in the character who are taking care of them in these later years. And so we're going to stay in our front door.
Now you're hearing a lot about the shortcomings in our healthcare system, especially when it comes to rural communities or people managing their chronic conditions. So Darren grow up with Medicare advantage. Majority, can you please tell us what role Medicare advantage will play in filling those gaps?
Absolutely, and gaps is the keyword. And there are gaps in our healthcare system, particularly in our more rural and when those communities where healthcare has been under invested in
for far too long. Quite frankly, I'm in Texas. Here in Oklahoma, there are a lot of rural communities that we need to be mindful of, and rural residents eligible for Medicare tend have lower incomes and higher rates of multiple chronic health conditions than those living in an urban or city center, and Medicare adventags can really help fill some of those care gaps through the comprehensive services that many traditional Medicare plans don't offer. Services like telehealth, prescription
drug delivery, preventative care wellness plans. Those are things covering Medicare advantage that could be really benefficient to rural communities.
Then, Darren, what can our listeners do to get more engaged on this issue?
Let me start with this. Our mission is to ensure that seniors and caregivers and family members and others have a voice with policy makers in this debate going forward. The best way to do that is at the local level. As you will know, and so I id invet your listeners to go to our website www dot Medicare Advantage majority dot org to learn more about the Medicare Advantage program, to learn more about our organization, and to sign a letter to urge your members of Congress to protect strip
from Medicare advantage. We had such an outcouring of support from seniors who were sending emails, writing letters, is making phone calls, showing up the town halls with their members to let them know that cutting Medicare advantage it should be off the table. It's bad policy and therefore it's bad politics. And we want to keep the Join Big going because we're mindful of standing up and standing with seniors going forward.
All right, we've been speaking with Darren Grubb and he's with Medicare advantage majority. Darren, thank you.
Thanks for having me on Wean's. You have a great day.