According to yesterday's Wall Street Journal there is a case currently making its way through the courts that will decide whether you can refuse Medicare coverage (opting for private coverage instead) without losing your Social Security benefits.
According to the article:
"Last week, Washington D.C. District Judge Rosemary Collyer handed a victory to three plaintiffs seeking that right. President Obama's Department of Health and Human Services had sought to dismiss the suit challenging so-called POMS rules that say seniors who withdraw from Medicare Part A must also surrender their Social Security benefits. (Part A covers hospital and outpatient services.) The judge ruled the plaintiffs have standing to contest their claim on the merits."
This is amazing. The Obama Administration had tried to get the case dismissed because it claimed that the people involved had not followed the proper procedures for challenging the rules within the POMS (the manual used by SSA employees to administer Social Security and Supplemental Security Income).
The thing to remember here is that all the people involved want to do is keep their own private medical insurance rather than switch to Medicare. You would think that, considering the financial troubles Medicare is having, this would be a welcome choice--less people to cover.
If the government is trying to control the choice of healthcare plans of people before national healthcare is passed, what will happen after the government can legally control your healthcare? This is an important case and should be watched carefully.
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