Group pushes for medicare reform

The leader of a group pushing for wholesale reform of the Medicare system is lining up Iowans to join the lobbying effort. Dorcas Hardy was Social Security Commissioner from 1986 to ’89, and she was in Iowa yesterday, working for the group “Citizens for Better Medicare”.Hardy says Congress should reform the system rather than just pile on more benefits.Hardy’s group supports the idea of a “basic benefit” Medicare package, with additional benefit options similar to the health insurance plan for federal employees.Hardy’s group wants a special board set up to decide what the alternative coverage options should be rather than have Congress make those decisions.