Congresswoman Kathy Castor released today new data from the House Energy and Commerce Committee showing how the Republican Medicare plan to end Medicare as we know it  would impact future and present access to Medicare. We compiled data from the six congressional districts of the Tampa Bay area to show the local impact on families and individuals throughout our community.

House Republicans voted to turn Medicare into a voucher system, a move that would end Medicare as we know it. Floridians age 54 and younger would be given vouchers or coupons to cover their health care costs from a private insurance company.  “This voucher system would not save any money,” Castor said. “It will shift the cost burden to seniors, many of whom can least afford a catastrophic health incident. It destroys Medicare as we know it and does nothing to address the rising cost of health care as a whole.”

The Congressional Republican plan delivers bad news for those who are not yet enrolled in Medicare, Castor said. When the Energy & Commerce Committee looked at the impacts on our neighbors ages 54 and younger, they found the GOP plan would:

* Deny 3 million Tampa Bay area residents age 54 and younger access to Medicare’s guaranteed benefits.

Existing benefits also would be nullified by the GOP plan:

* 67,700 Tampa Bay area residents who enter the Part D doughnut hole would see increased costs for prescription drugs, forcing our older residents to pay an additional $666 million for drugs throughout the next decade.

* 914,000 seniors in the Tampa Bay area would lose the new preventive care benefits.

“My neighbors have worked hard all their lives, tried to save, paid into Medicare, and now comes the GOP plan that changes the rules of the game midstream,” Castor said. “It leaves Floridians wondering what financial security they will have in their retirement. Medicare is a promise that Americans have relied upon since 1965. It is a promise that must be kept.”