Recently, the Obama Administration announced that as a result of Obamacare, it was going to significantly cut the popular Medicare Advantage program. Medicare Advantage (MA) provides coverage for almost 15 million seniors across the country – including about 33 percent of Utah’s seniors – and allows beneficiaries to gain access through a private insurance plan to not only traditional Medicare in-patient and out-patient care, but additional benefits like vision care and better overall care coordination. 

James and Maureen of Spanish Fork, Utah, are two of those Utah seniors who benefit from an MA plan. They recently sent me a letter describing how they have been personally affected by the hundreds of billions of dollars taken from MA to pay for Obamacare.

James and Maureen were informed some time ago that their current doctors and most providers in their area will no longer be covered as part of their plan’s network. In Maureen’s words, “If further funding is taken from Advantage programs, more and more providers will stop accepting these plans. Where will we go to seek medical treatment?” She added that, like many other Utah seniors, she and her husband “worry about what will be next.”

Sadly, James and Maureen are not the not the only Utahns suffering the consequences of these Obamacare cuts to MA. These are common stories and seniors throughout Utah and throughout the country are seeing their health care options dwindle, and it comes as a result of President Obama and the Democrats in Congress raiding MA to pay for their misguided health law. 

We all remember when the President promised that, under Obamacare, “if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor.” Yet, because of the law’s cuts to MA, people like James and Maureen are being forced to find new doctors and health care providers. Also in their case, as each day passes, fewer and fewer options are available to them. 

MA is extremely popular for a reason – run through the private market, seniors gain access to high-quality and coordinated care with additional benefits that they otherwise wouldn’t get. Regrettably, the Obama Administration continues to undermine this critical program. 

This is yet another example of the broken promises that came part and parcel with Obamacare. 

Yet, the administration refuses to step away from its talking points and acknowledge the truth – that the health law is fundamentally flawed and is not working as promised. 

All of the problems we’re seeing are just confirming over and over again that the best path forward would be to repeal Obamacare and replace it with patient-focused, common-sense reforms that will actually lower costs and expand options for the Utah’s seniors and those of all ages.