PRICE OF HEALTH SENIORS BATTLE TO KEEP BENEFITS.Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer BURBANK - About 100 city senior adults joined an informational rally Monday to learn how they could encourage lawmakers to preserve dwindling dwin·dle v. dwin·dled, dwin·dling, dwin·dles v.intr. To become gradually less until little remains. v.tr. To cause to dwindle. See Synonyms at decrease. health care benefits. Seniors gathered inside the Joslyn Adult Center were asked to mail cards and sign a poster that would be sent to U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer Barbara Levy Boxer (born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and the current junior U.S. Senator from the State of California. A member of the Democratic Party, Boxer was first elected to the U.S. and Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. to encourage them to keep costs down for the Medicare+Choice program, which includes access to prescription drugs. Four health plans, including Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care organization, based in Oakland, California, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney R. Garfield. , Blue Shield Blue Shield A US not-for-profit health care insurer that is a reimbursement intermediary for physicians. Cf Blue Cross. and HealthCare Dimensions, participated in the event, which was organized by the Coalition for Medicare Choices. The grass-roots organization hopes to encourage lawmakers to help keep the program intact. ``Today is about preserving your right to health care,'' Lisa Rubino, senior vice president for Blue Shield of California Blue Shield of California is a not-for-profit health insurance provider headquartered in San Francisco, California. An independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Blue Shield of California is an incorporated, wholly owned subsidiary of California Physicians' , told the group. ``Right now, Congress is distracted by the war, but if we're going to see some activity, this is the year to do it.'' According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the coalition, more than 2 million Medicare beneficiaries have had their care disrupted, when their Medicare+Choice plan was no longer available. If Medicare+Choice were not available, 30 percent of those enrolled, or about 1.5 million senior adults, would be unable to afford a Medicare supplement plan. Those primarily affected are the low-income, African-American and Latino communities enrolled in the plan. The coalition plans to collect stories from residents on how the programs have benefited their lives and what would happen if they were taken away. ``Almost 10 years ago, my husband had quintuple-bypass surgery,'' said retired Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee Luana Lesesma. ``I was worried how much that was going to cost. When I took out my checkbook, they told me I didn't have to pay anything. If that program wasn't in place, we could not have afforded it.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Seniors visit informational booths at a health care presentation at the Joslyn Adult Center in Burbank. (2) Estaban Cruz, M.D., speaks to seniors during the Medicare programs presentation. Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion