Rob Portman is a United States Senator from the state of Ohio, a position he has held since he was first elected in 2010, running a campaign that focused on common-sense conservative ideas to help create jobs and get the deficit under control. Rob won with a margin of 57 to 39 percent, winning 82 of Ohio’s 88 counties. In 2016, he was re-elected, winning by an even larger margin of 58 to 37 percent and winning 84 out of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Recognizing that raising premiums and cutting benefits aren’t the only ways to deal with the growing cost of Medicare, U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation that experts say could save Medicare billions by helping seniors get and stay healthy.
The Medicare “Better Health Rewards” program is a 100% voluntary program designed to help Medicare beneficiaries get and stay healthy by giving participating seniors achievable goals, a plan to reach them and incentives to keep motivated. It is the first proposal to offer financial rewards for reaching health care goals. Those rewards will be paid entirely by savings generated by seniors getting healthy and using less health care services. In other words, participating seniors who save Medicare money will be given an opportunity to share in the savings.
Medicare Better Health Rewards is a three-year wellness program that uses the annual wellness visit Medicare already pays for to ascertain and measure improvements in six key areas of health: tobacco usage, body mass index, diabetes indicators, blood pressure, cholesterol and up-to-date vaccinations and screenings. These areas have been identified as leading predictors of future health challenges.
In the first year, Medicare beneficiaries who choose to participate in the program will be assessed in each of these areas and then work with their doctor to develop a plan to bring their indicators into a healthier range. The senior’s progress will be measured during subsequent wellness visits in years two and three of the program. At those visits progress will be recognized for achieving and maintaining their targets in each of the key indicators. As added motivation to stick with the program, seniors earning 20 or more points will be eligible for a “Better Health Reward” paid for by the program’s savings.
Under the program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will calculate savings by deducting the actual cost of seniors enrolled in the program from the total projected costs of those participating absent the program.
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is backing U.S. Sen. Rob Portman’s (R-Ohio) recently introduced Medicare Better Health Rewards Bill due to its proactive, unique approach of improving the health of Medicare beneficiaries. The legislation would develop a 100% voluntary program to help Medicare beneficiaries get and stay healthy by giving participants achievable goals, a plan to reach them and incentives to keep motivated.
“The Medicare Better Health Rewards Program … is a unique program that will be one of the first to reward patients, in this case Medicare beneficiaries, for playing an active role in improving and maintaining their health,” said ODH Director Theodore Wymyslo in a letter to Portman. “Under this model, everyone wins … I am very proud of the success that this type of program has achieved at the Cleveland Clinic and am excited that your legislation proposes to expand this idea nationwide.”