‘Tis the Season!
Physicians for a National Health Program has just released a document that puts to bed any pretext for supporting the privately managed plans known as Medicare Advantage. For two decades, these plans have been incentivized and rewarded while mismanaging the health of millions of seniors and depleting our beloved national public health insurance program. The promise was that these private plans would save money and provide better care. In fact, they have cost us hundreds of billions of dollars and committed grievous harm to the patients in their charge.
This riveting report is titled, “Our Payments, Their Profits”. The subtitle, “Quantifying Overpayments in the Medicare Advantage Program,” describes the task PNHP undertook. The report lays out six ways private plans are defrauding and profiting from Medicare, with sums lost to each--for a grand total of between $88B and $140B wasted annually. That's money that could cover dental, vision, and hearing care for all on Traditional Medicare.

We invite you to browse the messages and links below to see what seniors on these plans are experiencing.
Open Season
Got mail? If you are 65 or older or have a certain disability status, you know by now that it’s “open enrollment” period for Medicare—both traditional and privately managed. Or is it “open season”?

Now through December 7, mailboxes will be flooded with enticements to lure seniors into the privately managed so-called Medicare Advantage insurance plans. ($0 premiums! $0 deductibles!) TV commercials will feature celebrities, much in the way cigarettes were successfully marketed.

This article breaks down the promotional tactics in the tv commercials and notes how harassed seniors are pushing back more lately by filing formal complaints.
Caught in the Trap
As in the past, the hunt this year will regrettably still have its desired effect, to trap many a dazed senior searching for that plan the letter promised, the one where they “make sure you can access the benefits you need for your health at a price within your budget.”

This National Council on Aging article, Choice Error: How Choosing A Medicare Plan Could Impact Your Finances and Health, cites a study that says, “only 10% of seniors choose the optimal Medicare Advantage plan" and points to the economic consequences.
This Shouldn't Be Happening
Vulnerable patients in need of care are experiencing cruel delays and denials, a common complaint.

This piece hits home with stories about patients who were denied the care they were expecting and needed.
What Can We Do?
Thanks to leadership from PNHP and other groups, the existential importance of this is increasingly on the radar of members of Congress. Oversight hearings are revealing the depth of the problem. The issue is making headlines. Cases are being brought and fines levied.

We need to continue building awareness, amplify the public outcry, and organize to pressure those who can affect policy.

  • Stay informed. Spread the word with friends, neighbors, family, and colleagues.

  • Go to protectmedicare.net. Pull down the Medicare Disadvantage menu for information and actions, including tips for writing Letters to the Editors. Check out this letter by a PNHP pediatrician published recently in an SF Bay area newspaper.
Very sincerely,

Devra Dallman, Chair
Health Care for All - California
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