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01/14/2018 11:00 PMResponding to an outcry from low-income seniors and town social services directors concerned for their welfare, state legislators convened in special session on Jan. 8 to reverse Medicare Savings Program (MSP) cuts that were part of the October 2017 state budget deal.
The MSP cuts resulted from the reduction in the program’s income eligibility threshold to $12,060 per year for a single person from the prior $25,040. This change left seniors with annual incomes between $12,061 and $25,000, seniors who had previously received full MSP benefits, without a way to cover the costs of their Medicare premiums, co-insurances, and deductibles.
With the grace period that preserved their health care coverage through the end of December, many worried about how they would pay their health insurance premiums, co-insurances, and deductibles as of Jan. 1. Old Saybrook Social Services Director Sue Consoli said the lack of official information from the state about what would happen to their benefits, and when, was the hardest parts of the past few months.
After the MSP cut became public, the state Department of Social Services agreed to temporarily extend for two months more the full MSP benefits to those who lost them, so former beneficiaries then had coverage through the end of February 2018. That bridge coverage still didn’t solve the problem—seniors then faced a benefit cut-off date of June 30 unless the State Legislature found a permanent funding fix.
The Jan. 8 special session vote—130 in favor and 3 against—overwhelmingly approved $53 million to restore MSP funding through the end of the current fiscal year that ends June 30, 2017. Although Governor Dannel Malloy has threatened to veto the bill, the overwhelming vote by the legislature in favor of MSP funds restoration would appear to be by a veto-proof majority. All shoreline legislators voted to restore MSP benefits through June 30.
The Medicaid-funded MSP program provides funds to low-income seniors and the disabled to cover the costs of federally-mandated Medicare and Medicare Advantage program premiums, deductibles, and co-insurance payments. For those seniors with chronic and expensive medical conditions, the reinstatement of MSP benefits will mean that funds that would have gone to pay for health care can now pay for food, rent, and heat this winter.
Due to the uncertainty about their health care coverage, Consoli said that many of her clients either postponed or canceled needed surgeries and medical procedures.
“A lot of these folks have put off operations and procedures that they needed. One of my clients put off a double-cataract surgery. Another postponed a needed heart surgery. I’m hoping there are no adverse problems due to the decisions these folks had to make,” said Consoli.