A group advocating for the preservation of Social Security and Medicare say the likely elimination of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, will have an impact on people that has had little publicity.
Dan Adcock is Director of Government Relations and Policy for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
He says if repealed, one example impacting seniors would be prescription drugs...
"....in Wisconsin in 2016 alone, more than 40,000 Medicare beneficiaries benefited from savings to the drug program with an average discount per person of about $1,010, so that was a significant savings...."
Adcock says wellness checkups have helped many Wisconsin residents including seniors and people with disabilities.
More than 322,000 individuals with Medicare used one or more free preventative service in 2015...
"....what the ACA did regarding preventative services is that people don't have to pay anything out of pocket to receive something like a mammogram. If repealed, that is another benefit that is lost....."
Data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show that hospital readmissions dropped by 7 percent for Wisconsin Medicare beneficiaries since 2010. That means that Wisconsin Medicare beneficiaries avoided 1,373 readmissions in 2015, compared to if readmissions had stayed constant at 2010 rates.
