Medicare Advantage and ACO REACH are privatization Right Wing schemes that will put Standard Medicare and, with that, the health and financial well-being of all Americans.
Medicare Advantage is privatized insurance that will fail.
Earlier today, on the KPFT version of my Politics Done Right program, I discussed an email from a friend who was happy with her Medicare Advantage. I understood her rationale for her plan. It was less expensive and offered her more than traditional Medicare.
After doing the program highlighting her email, I got yet another email from a listener supporting Medicare Advantage. He wrote:
I am 74 years old, so I’ve been on Medicare for almost 10 years. I’ve been enrolled with Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare Advantage Plus and have been happy with the program. The Plus, which costs extra each month ( my Kaiser Medicare Advantage Plus costs me $84/month out-of-pocket, in addition to the $164.90 automatically deducted from my Social Security check each month ), covers some dental, pays more for vision care, is supposed to pay some for hearing aids – I’ve not used it yet -, and pays for a membership at 24-Hour fitness.
So far I have been happy, with the usual caviots that anytime one used insurance for anything, the insurance company tries to keep their costs down.
Based on my experience, I do NOT understand the assertion that Medicare Advantage is a scam or a fraud.
I replied to the man as follows.
First of all, thank you so much for contacting me. I hope you listened to the program today. Please consider reading the newsletter where a good friend of mine emailed me a similar sentiment like yours along with my response. Here is the article:
https://egberto.substack.com/p/this-is-why-the-medicare-advantage
Please remember that Medicare Advantage costs us, the taxpayer, more than standard Medicare. And most of that extra cost goes into the pockets of the executives and shareholders. The reason they can offer some of these services that one must pay for individually in Standard Medicare is that the corrupt insurance companies continue to bribe the politicians to prohibit standard Medicare from offering them.
Undoubtedly, it will be difficult to convince Americans to avoid the hype and spend a bit more for their long-term health and financial security. The Advantage plans offer more because insurance companies have the politicians in their pockets. While Senators like Bernie Sanders and others are fighting to expand standard Medicare to support eye, hearing, and dental, politicians owned by these companies know that their deceptive selling points are predicated on having less than optimal Medical benefits.
Ultimately Americans are not dumb. We must get them informed. The switch to Medicare advantage in a counterintuitive way may bring single-payer healthcare for all a bit closer as their perks catch up with them. But we must continue informing as we await the switch.
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