gregg: three kinds of patients walk n. medicare, private insured and the medicaid. let s take them separately. what changes would a medicare patient see when they go to the doctor? 75 million baby boomers over the next 15 years will get medicare, including you and me, that s why we wear our bright ties. gregg: thank you. first of all, we re going to see a prevention oriented physical. they didn t have this before and some of it is going to be fully paid for. if you want to clonescopey, medicare covers the whole thing. mammogram every year, they cover the whole thing. also an end of life discussion that a physician can do every year which i and others say is excessive. with 75 million baby boomers, who is going to pay for that? i think that s going to increase the amount of burden and financial burden on medicare. i don t know how that s going to play out. we have an independent medicare advisory panel start not guilty 2011 that i believe will cut down on the services that i m g
that s because these changes involve mostly new rules and here is one change you ll see right away. those are medicare, the overall prescription benefit will be somewhat more expensive to help fill the hole in the doughnut and if you re in a medicare advantage account, there will be fewer benefits. eyeglasses or gyms because there will be less of a subsidy from the federal government to those programs. a look now at some other changes that are effective today. insurance companies must spend 80% of the money they earn from premiums on customers. some companies claim it will force them to cut back on services. we ll see. also taking effect today, drug discounts to seniors in the doughnut hole. the so-called doughnut hole. roughly 3 million seniors fit into that category. they ll begin to get 50% discounts on brand name prescriptions. today also marks the beginning of the free disease screenings for senior, part of the obama administration s efforts at prevention. also, there will now
with both wings of the house and senate you can get a lot of things done. this president got a lot of things done and a lot of damage was done to this country. reporter: even with the massive majorities they weren t able to pass cap and trade or a budget for the year. they failed to reform the immigration system and the dream act. the new congress gets sworn in on wednesday. gregg: peter, thanks. julie: happy birthday babyboomers, first ones starting to turn 65 years today and that brings a flood of applications for medicare. many are concerned that it can drain our economy. what can be done to save it and what sort of economic impact will it have on future generations. joining me is christian magune. how concerned should we be that babyboomers like gregg jarrett
and also the full constitutional rights which they don t enjoy now. they do have legal representation. they do have the right to petition for habeus but that is where it stops at least for now as far as the constitution. happy new year to you. gregg: 2011 is a milestone year for the babyboomers. many start turning 65, clogging the already ailing medicare system. find out what this will do to our troubled economy, coming up. julie: and ready to return the unwanted christmas gifts. retailers have a present for you they are tracking who is bringing what back. we re going to tell you why next. who s your someone?
some say that will it force them to cut back on services. and drug discounts in the seniors in the donut hole. roughly 3 million seniors will get 50% discounts beginning today. and free disease screenings for seniors, part of obama s administration on prevention and there will be new center for medicare innovation, the design to slow the soaring cost of healthcare but critics say it s another layer of bureaucracy. gregg: are medicare recipients seeing their costs going up. reporter: we mentioned but the donut hole. giving them those discounts cost money, so, yes, it s going to be made up by charging other seniors a bit more. for those on medicare, the overall prescription benefit will be somewhat more expensive