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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Friday, the Obama Administration announced further cuts to the popular Medicare Advantage program for seniors, totaling a proposed 3.55 percent decrease in funding for fiscal year 2015. Congressman Brad Wenstrup, a physician of 26 years, previously drew attention to these cuts and their impacts on seniors in a 2013 letter demanding a full accounting of the effects in his state of Ohio.

“Ohio seniors were told if they liked their doctor and health plan, they could keep their doctor and health plan. Now, Obamacare is forcing many seniors to choose between the two as Medicare Advantage plans drop doctors from their networks to make up for Obamacare’s $200 billion in cuts to the program,” Wenstrup said. “I have seniors in my district who are losing access to their trusted physician, or who are experiencing disruption in the middle of treatment.”

The Affordable Care Act cuts $200 billion to Medicare Advantage, phased in through 2017. In Ohio alone, upwards of 700,000 seniors participate in the Medicare Advantage program and could see a decrease in benefits, an increase in premiums and/or a change in their provider network as a direct result of these cuts.

Wenstrup, a member of the House Doctors’ Caucus, says, “We will continue to hold the Obama Administration accountable for these cuts as they have a real impact on seniors and are only expected to increase.”

Background: In December, Wenstrup sent a letter with ten other Ohio Representatives to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, requesting specifics on how these cuts will affect Ohio seniors and Medicare Advantage providers on a county by county basis over the next four years.

According to CMS as of February 2014, counties in Ohio’s 2^nd Congressional District have the following number of Medicare Advantage enrollees:

Adams: 1,764

Brown: 3,410

Clermont: 13,877

Hamilton: 51,510

Highland: 2,724

Pike: 1,391

Ross: 5,270

Scioto: 3,472

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