Medicare benefit should ease seniors’ health-cost burden

In an effort to make Massachusetts “a more affordable state to grow older,” the Healey administration recently unveiled a new Medicare program that could help save senior citizens up to $3,000 annually in health-care costs.

The new Medicare Saving Program, administered by Masshealth, will pay for some or all of Medicare beneficiaries’ premiums and other health-related costs, including prescriptions.

Residents must be at least 65 and meet the income requirements to qualify for this federally-funded benefit.

The program, which got underway on March 1, replaces Masshealth’s Senior Buy-in and Buy-in programs.

Under the new eligibility guidelines, for an individual on Medicare with less than $2,824 per month in income — or less than $3,833 for a couple — the program will pay for monthly Part B premiums, Part A and D copays and deductibles, as well as extra help with prescription costs, according to the Healey administration.

For a couple 65 or older, that puts a qualifying ceiling of just under $ 46,000 in yearly income.

While seemingly leaving out most senior households, this state’s median income of $61,624 for that demographic suggests they’ll be ample opportunity for a significant segment of the elderly to partake of this cost- saving program.

As the governor intended, these new income rules should pave the way for greater participation than the previous income requirements allowed.

Until now, eligibility was determined through a means test that limited individuals to no more than $18,180 in assets, $27,260 for couples. Those assets included money in bank accounts and retirement funds, which advocates say often excluded people who would otherwise qualify based on annual income.

“Seniors, regardless of income, are entitled to age with dignity and comfort,” the Boston-based nonprofit group Healthcare for All said in a statement. “The elimination of the asset test also works to further health equity. By allowing folks to retain their assets to receive affordable health care, low-income seniors can build generational wealth for their families.”

As most of us are acutely aware, the state’s skyrocketing health- care costs have caused many families to make hard choices, even forcing some lower-income patients to forgo medical treatment.

Last week, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission’s Center for Health Information and Analysis issued a report indicating that health spending has spiked in Massachusetts amid high drug prices, unprecedented patient cost sharing and other price drivers.

The report found healthcare expenditures per capita increased by 5.8% from 2021 to 2022, well above the national rate of 4.1% and nearly double the 3.1% benchmark set by the HPC.

Given all the other inflationary pressures, a $3,000 health- care savings for certain members of the state’s most vulnerable population couldn’t come at a better time.

For more information on the Medicare Savings Program, visit https://www. mass.gov/info- details/gethelp-paying-medicare- costs

Therapeutic psychedelics’ pros, cons aired at legislative hearing

The mushroom crowd descended on the State House earlier this week, seeking lawmakers’ support for a ballot measure to legalize psychedelics for medical purposes.

But critics contend that would jeopardize public health and safety.

A legislative committee heard testimony Tuesday on a question that would decriminalize psilocybin and other psychedelics, and allow adults 21 and older to use the drugs under supervision at licensed centers.

Backers of the referendum, who’ve collected more than 95,000 signatures so far in their effort to put the question before voters in November, see psychedelics as a way to help treat mental illness, citing studies showing the promise of psilocybin as a therapeutic drug.

The ballot question is backed by the Washington, D.c.-based New Approach political action committee, which has supported similar initiatives in Oregon and Colorado, where psilocybin is legal.

As with previous testimony before legislative panels, supporters presented several experts who stated there’s evidence that psilocybin can help in treating psychological disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.

Dr. Franklin King, a psychiatrist and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics, offered his personal professional opinion of this plant-based therapy’s potential benefits.

But other medical experts claimed that legalizing psychedelics would jeopardize public health and safety.

The U. S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized “breakthrough therapy” status for the psychedelic drug for the purposes of clinical trials being conducted by private research companies.

But psilocybin remains illegal under federal law; it’s classified as a Schedule 1 drug under the U. S. Controlled Substances Act, along with LSD, heroin and other drugs, with no accepted medical uses.

This State House appearance likely represents no more than a formality, since it’s doubtful that lawmakers would take any action at this stage of the ballot process.

The state constitution requires the Legislature to consider initiative petitions before backers of the referendums conduct another round of signature gathering. Lawmakers have until April 30 to vote on the proposals.

If lawmakers don’t take up the measure, backers must gather another 12,429 voter signatures by a July 3 deadline to make the ballot.

Should this ballot question survive the signature- gathering process and receive voters’ backing in November, legislators will then have another opportunity to tinker with its contents.