Senate Bill 0118

    Florida Senate - 1999        (NP)                       SM 118

    By Senator Forman





    32-385-99

  1                     Senate Memorial No.     

  2         A memorial to the Congress of the United

  3         States, urging Congress to review the HMO

  4         Medicare/Medicare+Choice delivery system with

  5         the goal of devising methods to stabilize the

  6         market, avoid confusion of the elderly and

  7         other Medicare-eligible enrollees, provide

  8         adequate coverage at a reasonable cost, and

  9         avoid shifts in coverage which disrupt the

10         market.

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12         WHEREAS, seven health maintenance organizations have

13  recently announced significant reductions of HMO coverage for

14  Medicare beneficiaries in 26 Florida counties, and

15         WHEREAS, this action is due to reductions in

16  reimbursement levels, and

17         WHEREAS, effective January 1, 1999, an estimated 64,704

18  Medicare beneficiaries will be canceled throughout those 26

19  Florida counties, and

20         WHEREAS, in nine Florida counties, an estimated 17,117

21  Medicare beneficiaries have no choice but to return to

22  traditional coverage under Medicare, Parts A and B, and

23         WHEREAS, many of these individuals enrolled in HMO

24  Medicare coverage because of the reduced financial burden and

25  the availability of certain additional benefits, such as

26  prescription drugs, and

27         WHEREAS, those Medicare beneficiaries who must return

28  to traditional coverage under Medicare, Parts A and B, may not

29  be eligible for certain Medicare supplement insurance policies

30  that, if affordable, would help restore certain benefits and

31  services previously available through a Medicare HMO, and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999        (NP)                       SM 118
    32-385-99




  1         WHEREAS, the cancellation of coverage available from

  2  Medicare HMOs has forced thousands of Medicare beneficiaries

  3  in Florida to make significant health care choices without

  4  adequate preparation and consumer education, and

  5         WHEREAS, current "guarantee issue" Medicare supplement

  6  insurance policies do not provide important benefits, such as

  7  coverage for prescription drugs, NOW, THEREFORE,

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  9  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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11         That the Congress of the United States is urged to

12  review the HMO Medicare/Medicare+Choice delivery system with

13  the goal of devising methods to stabilize the market, avoid

14  confusion of the elderly and other Medicare-eligible

15  enrollees, provide adequate coverage at a reasonable cost, and

16  avoid disruptive shifts in coverage.

17         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

18  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the

19  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the

20  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of

21  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

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