Seniors Satisfaction Survey Facebook Live Event – Recap

Last Thursday, October 24th, Seniors Speak Out (SSO) held a Facebook live event discussing the Seniors Satisfaction Survey that the Healthcare Leadership Council’s (HLC) Medicare Today conducts every year. I, SSO Spokesperson Thair Phillips, hosted the event, which included Matt Monday from Morning Consult, the firm that conducted the survey, and Maria Ghazal, the President and CEO of HLC. You can click here to see the entire event.

I opened the event by reviewing SSO’s mission to serve as a resource for older Americans, caregivers, and advocates by encouraging seniors to take an active role in their healthcare and to ensure seniors stay informed about the latest policies and access needs. I then offered a brief overview of the current healthcare policy discussions.

I pointed out that the landscape is currently dominated by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which has caused pharmaceutical manufacturers to reduce their research into new drugs, contributed to the increased premiums for stand-alone plans, and reduced the number of plan options seniors have. Also, to blunt the impact on Seniors, CMS announced a short-term fix, costing $5 billion, that simply shifts the costs from plan sponsors and enrollees to taxpayers and doesn’t address the underlying problems. I pointed out that our survey clearly shows that these changes worry seniors and that lawmakers should reprioritize their healthcare agendas, recognizing that access is essential because many older Americans rely on these treatments to maintain their health and quality of life.

Shifting to the survey, I said that, similar to years past, seniors remain highly satisfied with their Medicare Part D plans. However, I cautioned that more than 80% of us aren’t supportive of increased government intervention in Medicare Part D, primarily out of fear it will restrict access to cutting-edge and lifesaving treatments. I then turned the time over to Matt Monday of Morning Consult.

Matt pointed out that this is the 3rd year that he has joined me in going over the survey. Morning Consult contacted more than 1,000 seniors, asking them how they felt about their Medicare plans, their Part D plans, and the price-setting provisions of the IRA. The survey had four primary outcomes:

• Over 95% of seniors are satisfied with their healthcare coverage, and 89% are satisfied with their Part D prescription drug plans.

• In past years, seniors have felt that their Part D coverage is convenient and of good value.

• 4 out of 5 seniors are concerned that the price-setting aspects of the IRA could impact their access to medicines and new treatments, which is consistent with what prior surveys have revealed.

• Lastly, seniors pointed out that they want lawmakers to listen to them.

I then asked Matt a few questions. First, why did he think these ratings stay high year over year? He said that competition to provide better service, new technologies, and lessons learned during COVID helped maintain high ratings. I also asked if he thought their concern had increased since the IRA was implemented. Matt responded that seniors have always been concerned that the government would mess up Part D, and all that the IRA did was codify those concerns. Finally, I asked Matt if the IRA threatened the integrity of Part D? He said that the foundation of this program is access, ease of use, and innovation and that the IRA put these foundation components on shaky ground. I then turned it over to Maria, who briefly overviewed her background and the Healthcare Leadership Council’s healthcare priorities.

Maria began by talking about her decades of involvement in healthcare policy before becoming the President and CEO of HLC in January. She described HLC’s membership as an association of CEOs and C-suite executives from all healthcare sectors, saying, “There isn’t a part of the care continuum that our membership doesn’t touch in some way!” She said implementing the IRA is at the top of the list regarding priorities. Lowering the out-of-pocket costs consumers pay for prescription drugs, maintaining broad access, and ensuring policies don’t stifle innovation are critical priorities for HLC. Maria also spoke about the negative impacts of the IRA, including the higher premiums and fewer choices. She brought up the crucial point that some lawmakers are already talking about expanding the number of drugs covered under this law and how this will have further adverse effects on us. She pointed out how dangerous this expansion would be given we have no idea how significant the impact will be on the actual cost to patients and the reduction of innovation.

I then took the opportunity to ask Maria some questions. We started with her perspective on the key takeaways from the survey. She said a good description was, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” She echoed Matt’s statements that seniors have, year after year, been extremely satisfied with Part D and wondered why the government thinks they need to make these radical changes.

I then asked her the same question I asked Matt: does she think these changes threaten the essential integrity of Part D? Maria said she thought they did and that we are already seeing fewer plans and higher prices. She then made a significant statement:

“Just last week a national survey was released showing more than 90 percent of independent pharmacists may not sell drugs for which the Medicare Part D program is trying to negotiate lower prices. A big blow for access – if it happens.”

Maria spoke about the reduction in the number of plans, and I pointed out that one of the fears lawmakers had before passing Part D was whether there would be enough plans to satisfy the requirements of competition and access. Even in rural areas, the number of plans available exceeded all the estimates. Still, now there are 185 fewer plans – it’s certainly not what seniors want to see during this open enrollment.

I then asked Maria what seniors should tell their lawmakers. She said they need to tell them to get rid of the most egregious parts of the IRA and not allow the program to grow until we find out the true impact of this law. Maria recognized that repealing the law was just not going to happen in this political environment, so we should focus on making it better and blunting its most negative parts.

Finally, we discussed how seniors can contact their lawmakers and the many new ways to make their voices heard. I pointed out how powerful you are as a constituent and how important you are to the lawmakers.

I then thanked our guests and everyone who took the time to watch our Facebook live event.

Best, Thair