Reviews for the 2002 Monograph on Dually Eligible People
“[E]xcellent monograph . . . . It reflects an extraordinary grasp of the problems facing dual eligibles in states that, like Louisiana, do not pay Medicare deductibles and coinsurance amounts. . . . As a physician who makes house calls for the elderly poor, you will have high credibility with most readers . . . .”
— Andy Schneider, Medicaid Policy, LLC, Washington, DC
“I applaud your concerns about trying to get better health care coverage for poor seniors. . . . I do agree that the source [of the problem] is the wrong-headed 1997 Congressional budgeting statute. . . . [T]his is something that Congress can address since they created the problem in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. . . . I salute you for your efforts to educate the public about this.”
— William Quigley, Law Clinic, Loyola University School of Law, New Orleans, LA
“Thanks for your dedication and passion for this issue. . . . [A]ll of the physicians . . . who care for Medicare patients here in Louisiana and the U.S. appreciate immensely your efforts. . . . I also admire your diligence and detail in which you so expertly and exactly commented on the financial figures and the huge potential cost savings to the state [of Louisiana].”
—Charles Cefalu, MD, President, Louisiana Geriatrics Society, Professor of Medicine and Director for Geriatric Program Development, LSU School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA
“Turning healthcare disparity into healthcare equality while saving healthcare dollars”
NACDEP, the National Coalition for Dually Eligible People, https://nacdep.org
Dually Eligible People with Medicare and Medicaid — At the Center of the Next Debate:
Because of their medical frailty, their social and racial demographics, their great expense, and their expanding growth rate, dually eligible people — “the elderly and disabled poor” — will occupy a central position in the upcoming debates over national healthcare financing and disparities in health care in the 21st century.
Sheldon M Hersh, MD
Louisiana Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting
New Orleans, Louisiana, 2003
Excerpts from the Paper
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 causes disproportionate harm…
“For any government program based solely on adult poverty, decreasing benefits causes disproportionate harm to elderly people of color and mentally and physically disabled people nationwide….”
It takes only the flip of a legislative switch to reverse healthcare disparities…
“Healthcare disparities have many causes. It will take decades to decrease concentrated poverty, eliminate racial and residential segregation, redistribute primary care physicians, and improve health literacy. But it takes only the flip of a legislative switch to reverse healthcare disparities created by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.”