In a healthcare supply store today I saw an elderly man deprived of a needed oxygen tank.

[madfloridian]

This is a large healthcare supply store that ships nationwide. The owner is a wealthy man who will suffer no consequences from his actions today.

I overheard him tell an obviously unwell elderly man that they were refusing to accept his insurance. I gathered he has a Medicare Advantage plan, though I did not catch which one.

He slowly got his question out to the owner...why are you refusing to accept my insurance? The owner said it was because of Obamacare, that he could not afford to take the cuts in payments for supplies. He told the man that his insurance would change from paying 50 dollars for the item to only 19 dollars in January 2014.

The man said what can I do? The owner said he just didn't know.

The man then left and said whatever. When I checked out I said where others could hear that he had turned this from a health care center to a political arena, and that it was a shame.

Since hubby and I were both hospitalized with a bad strain of pneumonia the last of March I have seen so many changes from when he was sick before. Reduced staff and delays in responding to patients are the most obvious.

Top Five Ways the President's Budget Would Change Medicare

The changes appear to be just beginning.

In 2017, 2019 and 2021, new Medicare beneficiaries would have to pay an additional $25 for their Part B deductible, for a three-year total of $75 to be added on to the cost of the Part B premium, which in 2013 is $147.

The administration says the change would "strengthen program financing and encourage beneficiaries to seek high-value health care services." Seniors advocates say it's an additional cost to people already struggling on fixed incomes. In 2012, nearly half of Medicare beneficiaries had annual incomes of below $22,500.

Also starting in 2017, Obama's plan would require new Medicare beneficiaries to pay $100 for five or more home health care visits that are not preceded by a stay in the hospital or another medical facility, such as a nursing home or a rehabilitation hospital. Home health care is one of the few areas in Medicare that does not have cost sharing, and its rapid growth in recent years has led panels like the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) to recommend beneficiary cost sharing.

Beginning in 2017, new beneficiaries who purchase supplemental insurance, known as Medigap, with particularly low cost-sharing requirements -- such as "first-dollar" coverage -- will face a surcharge equivalent to approximately 15 percent of the average Medigap premium. The thought is that more generous Medigap plans encourage overuse of services, but seniors rely on these generous plans to shield them from unanticipated costs.

There is already a great inconsistency in Medicare Advantage plans. For example Blue Medicare requires a co-pay of $150 for each day in the hospital up to day 7. Aetna Medicare requires no co-pay at all for those first 7 days.

I think the health care supply owner will go tonight to his fancy home thinking nothing at all about that man he turned away. I hope that discouraged man will find another supply place that will accept his insurance. I wondered how many more will be in the same situation as the cuts begin.