DeLauro Hosting Medicare Town Meeting Wednesday at Baldwin Center

U.S. Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) will hold a Medicare town hall meeting at the Stratford Senior Center Wednesday to discuss and answer questions about the changes to Medicare and Medicaid being proposed in the 2012 budget and the impact on Connecticut seniors.

The meeting will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The Republican budget for 2012 will end Medicare as we know it, changing it into a voucher program, according to DeLauro. She said this will place higher costs on seniors, end recommended preventive health services such as mammograms, colonoscopies, and wellness exams, provided for free by Medicare to every senior in America, and threaten health care funding for long-term care and people with disabilities.

The proposed budget also will reduce funding for Medicaid, which insures over 500,000 in Connecticut, reducing benefits, lowering the number of people who are served by the program, and shifting costs onto an already over-burdened state.

Local residents are invited to attend and learn about the proposed changes to Medicare, and ask questions about how their Medicare coverage will change. DeLauro will be joined by Brad Plebani, deputy director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy.