The in box. Bev Johns on Medicare Advantage.

TESTIMONY TO COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENT FORECASTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Beverley H. Johns

October 23, 2013

Confusion, misinformation, and fear run rampant among my colleagues as a result of the proposed changes to the health insurance of those of us who chose to devote our careers to the education of children within this state. We worked many years for not the best wages and counted on our retirement plan and health insurance when we left the system. Some of us worked extra jobs in order to get enough social security to get medicare. Because we paid into the teacher retirement system we are only eligible for part of our social security and now we learn that we are going to lose our medicare because the state of Illinois used our retirement funds to pay for other priorities. Educators are being blamed for all the fiscal problems in Illinois.

Now educators are facing a vastly reduced cost of living allowance and their health insurance is becoming very complicated.

Because I have my husband on my insurance, I received a letter, that is a four page legal size document, from HMS Employer Solutions, a private company in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Even though I am originally from that area in Indiana, I didn’t know whether it was legitimate. I contacted someone from the IRTA and they didn’t know anything about a letter from out of state. This four page document said that I was to send a tax transcript (not the front page of my federal tax return which others thought was sufficient), and a required additional document which could be a bank statement that must have my name and my husband’s name, or a copy of my property tax bill that must have my name and my husband’s name on it. What do people do if they don’t have joint bank accounts or don’t have a house in both of their names. I questioned under what authority an out of state firm had to such personal information. This four page letter states you are not to call CMS or the Teacher Retirement System but you are only to contact HMS in Indiana. As a result, I contacted the Attorney General’s office to see if this was a legitimate request or whether it was a scam. I finally learned that it was legitimate. I called another state agency who told me if I checked the CMS website I would know this was okay. While I use the internet often, I don’t typically cruise the CMS website and I don’t know too many retirees that do. Illinois had contracted with a private firm out of the state of Illinois to do an audit on those of us who have dependents on our insurance. When this state needs jobs and we are hurting for money why are we sending money out of the state for a task that certainly should be able to be done within Illinois.

A number of people I know simply sent the front page of their tax return; only to find out that was insufficient.

Accessibility for the elderly is a major concern of mine. What will an 85 year old person do when they receive this kind of complicated letter? While I am fairly tech savvy, what about elderly people who do not have a computer or if they have a computer they would not understand what needed to be done. In order to get a transcript during the federal shutdown, it took me two days to complete the information correctly online. I was filling in our address the way it is on the tax statement only to learn that the computer system would not take it that way.

This scheme is ripe for identity fraud. Information can be faxed but yet who knows who is on the other end of the fax to take the information.

Why are people being put through this elaborate and complex process? I ask the question about whether it is to detect fraud or is it an attempt to cut off some senior citizens. If people got the information and thought it was a scam, they may not have completed it; therefore they lose their dependent’s health insurance. If someone does not have access to all of the information and does not make the deadline, they lose their dependent’s health insurance. If they complete it incorrectly, they lose their dependent’s health insurance.

We have now received notification online from organizations about the new health care that takes away our Medicare as we know it and we now will have a period of time to study and research different Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare Advantage is very different than original Medicare. What about elderly individuals who again don’t know what is happening because they don’t have internet. We are all awaiting the official letter we are supposed to get from CMS about our choices to replace our Medicare. All of these insurance plans are confusing to people who are older and don’t have someone who is knowledgeable about the intricacies of health insurance. After all, they thought they would always have Medicare. If they don’t make the choice within the short timeframe, they again will lose their health insurance.

I ask that you provide clear options, accurate information, and quit creating barriers for the elderly. Let senior citizens live our lives in peace. We didn’t create these problems; retired teachers never have had free health insurance and we pay over 75% of the cost of my husband’s health insurance. We paid for our retirement with deductions from every paycheck and now people blame us for the fiscal problems of the state.