Scaring Grandma

October 1^st is a major implementation date for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), often referred to as Obamacare.

On October 1^st the state health insurance exchanges will open and a new era in health insurance begins. 

There are no significant Medicare changes on October 1^st.

There is a great deal of confusion, as evidenced by media reports, among Medicare beneficiaries. Some of the confusion is natural, considering the complexity of Obamacare, and some is intentional (my own political party spreading and encouraging the misinformation). And the con artists and scammers are using this to con the elderly.

The ACA does not make immediate or dramatic changes to Medicare. The ACA will make changes to Medicare, many of them in the relationship between providers and the government, many largely irrelevant to patients. The U.S. health care system will evolve into something different, impacting all of us in some way or another.

There are plenty of real problems with the design and roll out of Obamacare, there is no need to scare senior citizens.