Garamendi: Californians Would Pay $100 per Month More in Medicare Premiums Under Ryan-Republican Plan

Press Release:

FAIRFIELD, CA – Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield, CA), California’s Insurance Commissioner for eight years, today highlighted a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation that shows California seniors would, on average, face an increase of over $100 per month in traditional Medicare premium costs under the Ryan-Republican plan to replace Medicare with an underfunded voucher system. The study also found that removing the Medicare guarantee and replacing it with a voucher or “premium support” system would produce higher premiums for six in ten American seniors.

The Kaiser study only evaluates increased premiums and does not take into account the additional out-of-pocket costs that seniors would incur from higher co-pays and deductibles and from losing the free preventative care and prescription drug discounts included in the Affordable Care Act.

“California’s seniors, and every Californian who will become a senior, have good reason to be concerned about the changes to Medicare that almost every Republican in Congress voted to implement,” said Congressman Garamendi, who has made protecting the Medicare guarantee a top priority. “The Ryan-Republican plan to end the Medicare guarantee would raise premiums paid by California seniors in the traditional Medicare program, on average, by at least $1,200 a year. This is effectively a regressive tax increase targeting middle class and lower income seniors, and so long as I’m in Congress, I’ll do all I can stop their plan from becoming law.”