Schrader bill offered on behalf of Lake Oswegan

The Lake Oswego Review, Jan 28, 2010

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WASHINGTON, D.C.: Congressman Kurt Schrader, D-Oregon, introduced a bill last week to protect seniors from experiencing gaps in their healthcare coverage under Medicare.

Schrader’s legislation, H.R.4473, the Seniors Medicare Protection Act of 2010, was inspired by Lake Oswego resident Bill Bregar who through no fault of his own – according to Schrader – missed a key deadline to sign up for Medicare and as a result was not able to access health coverage.

“When Bill told me his story last summer I knew we had to do something,” said Schrader. “And unfortunately this is not an isolated case. Many seniors are going without coverage because of problems transitioning into Medicare and are unable to pick up temporary coverage because of their age.”

Numerous seniors have had problems enrolling in Medicare Part B, and experience a gap in healthcare coverage at a time when they need it most, Schrader said. The Seniors Medicare Protection Act of 2010 would eliminate this gap in coverage by providing eligible seniors with coverage in the event that they did not enroll during the appropriate enrollment periods.

According to Schrader, Bregar, a former software engineer, accepted a voluntary retirement package from his employer in June 2007. Bregar and his wife were able to remain on his former firm’s health insurance plan, via COBRA, for two years.

“He was told by a Social Security representative that he would be able to switch to Medicare when this coverage expired in May of last year,” noted Schrader.

“But when Mr. Bregar tried to enroll in Medicare Part B in May, he was told he was out of luck. Because he had missed the eight-month deadline in which to sign up for Medicare Part B, which expired in early 2008, he was relegated to Medicare’s general enrollment period from Jan. 1 to March 31. And, when their Medicare benefits finally would be set to kick in next July, the Bregars would also be subject to a 10 percent late-enrollment penalty.”

Bregar attended one of Schrader’s “Congress on Your Corner” meetings last year and spoke about his problem to Schrader.