An AARP-sponsored tele town hall meeting Friday on the future of Medicare and Social Security focused mostly on Medicare with questions from 11 Montanans and answers from several government representatives.

The event was part of a larger effort called, “You’ve Earned a Say,” a new AARP campaign deemed a national conversation about strengthening “health and retirement security.” Marguerite Salazar, regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, took part.

Claudia Clifford, AARP director of advocacy in Montana, facilitated the meeting. She opened the tele town hall with the goal of the teleconference.

“For the last year, some politicians in Washington have been talking behind closed doors about making changes to Medicare and Social Security as part of a budget deal,” Clifford said.

“We don’t think that’s right. AARP strongly believes you’ve earned your Medicare and Social Security benefits through a lifetime of hard work. You’ve earned a say about these programs.”

Salazar made introductory remarks, touting achievements of the health reform law, which had its second anniversary Friday. She credited the bill with making Medicare safer and stronger than ever.

“First and foremost, I want you to know that Medicare funding is not being cut,” she said.

She said that critics of the law say that the reform law cuts $500 billion from the Medicare Trust Fund. Salazar said that was not true and that several fact-checking watchdogs have labeled those claims as “false” or “lies.”

A check by the Inter Lake of some watchdog sites regarding the $500 billion found general agreement that the bill does not take the money from the current budget but from the projected future growth of Medicare over the next 10 years.

Some groups call the reductions “savings”; others call them “cuts.” Opinions on the impacts on future services cover a wide range.

Salazar pointed to improvements to benefits provided in the health reform legislation. She listed free preventive services and closing the “doughnut hole” gap in prescription drug funding with discounts this year of 50 percent for name-brand drugs and 14 percent discounts on generics.

“In 2011, around 10,500 Montanans received this discount with an average savings of $615 in savings per person, or a total savings in Montana of over $6 million,” she said.

“In 2011, 115,000 people with Medicare in Montana received free preventive services.”

Salazar asked for comments to take back to Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. People who spoke were only identified by first name, beginning with Gary, who complained about his treatment at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

“They need to be checked into real bad,” he alleged. “They’re overcharging. In the hospital, some of them aren’t working together like they say they are.”

Salazar said that it was important for people like Gary to bring these issues up. He and other listeners on the tele town hall were told to call 1-800-MEDICARE to report issues of inappropriate care or of fraud or abuse that can’t be resolved with a provider.

Gary was also told that the Montana Senior Medical Patrol Project helps resolve Medicare patient issues. The project may be reached at 1-800-551-3191.

A woman identified as Jolynn of Bigfork reported that some providers don’t know about the yearly wellness exams available now through Medicare. Jolynn said she went for a wellness exam to a nurse practitioner who appeared not to know about what they included.

“Are there standards to follow?” Jolynn asked.

Brenda Hudson of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the government is working to educate providers about this benefit. Salazar added that wellness exams are a relatively new idea.

A woman named Reya of Anaconda asked about the concern that Social Security money “has been dipped into” and said it should be put in an account strictly for Social Security. Clifford said there was a trust fund, but there are “solvency issues around 2036.”

Reya said she had children in their 40s and that it was OK if they need to work a few more years.

“If they have to work a little longer, so be it,” she said. “We’re living longer. I truly believe that people can work to 67 or even 70 — this younger generation. It’s not going to hurt them.”

The tele town hall ended on a positive note with Leo, a former teacher in Absarokee, giving Medicare an A minus. He said that his wife was kept alive with treatment for ovarian cancer and that he depended on Medicare for treatment of his COPD.  

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.