Changes

===Entitlement Spending===

====MediCare====

“Protecting Health Benefits For Today’s And Tomorrow’s Seniors”

**Creating a uniform single annual deductible of $550, with a uniform coinsurance rate of 20% above the deductible.

**Providing catastrophic protection for seniors with just a 5% cost-share after out of pocket expenses reach $5,500 in a year, and a hard cap of $7,500 a year in cost-sharing. This will save money for the Medicare system while also providing greater protection against catastrophic costs for seniors.

====Medicaid====

“Empowering States To Focus On Better Services For The Individual”

*Better Coordinating Care For Dual Eligibles: Over 9 million low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid. And while these individuals represent just 13% of enrollees in either program, they account for 27% of all Medicare spending and 40% of Medicaid spending. These individuals would be better served if they received their coverage through a managed care organization. This will allow the services provided to them to be better coordinated through singular oversight across the spectrum of health care funding streams.

*Requiring a Modest Copay for Those Above the Poverty Line. Governor Christie proposes that those Medicaid with incomes above 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) would have a $10 copay for a doctor’s visit and a $20 copay for a hospital visit. This will introduce economics into the health care purchase decision and encourage rational use of health care resources.

====Disability Insurance====

“Refocusing Assistance To Put People Back to Work”

**Employer Incentives: Offer tax incentives that encourage employers to invest in prevention, accommodation and rehabilitation services for their workers as well as to provide short-term private disability insurance.

*Incentivizing Individuals To Get Back To Work: Governor Christie proposes reforming the DI program to encourage people to get back into the workforce by speeding up the qualification review process, updating the requirements for recency of work and for returning to work, as well as increasing funding for continuing reviews. At the same time the program should encourage vocational rehab, wage subsidies and preventive care services to keep an individual working with additional support.

===Healthcare for Veterans===

*24/7 HOTLINE:

In New Jersey, Governor Christie’s administration established a 24 hours a day 7 days a week hotline manned by mental health professionals as well as veteran volunteers. Governor Christie supports creating a similar nationwide hotline to act as a resource for veterans experiencing mental health issues when they get home.