That is enough to end Medicare premiums and add services

Physicians For a National Health Policy (PNHP) released a scathing report on the HUGE amount of money that the so-called “Medicare Advantage” (it is not Medicare, nor is there any Advantage) overbills our government on Wednesday. A little more than half of the amount of overpayment could easily fund adding dental, vision and hearing to traditional Medicare. 

PNHP has been working on reforming America’s health care for decades. As I often say, America pays twice as much for half the care that all other industrialized countries get. This video is three members of congress pointing out that “Medicare Advantage” is simply a corporate ripoff: (1:40)

The PNHP report is accessible here – https://pnhp.org/system/assets/uploads/2023/09/MAOverpaymentReport_Final.pdf  However, Jake Johnson at commondreams.org summarizes the report. This summary highlights the HUGE overpayments that are ending up in the bottom lines of greedy insurance companies who “earn” that money by coming between patients and their doctors and by denying needed care. Here are some excerpts from Mr, Johnson’s summary:

A report published Wednesday estimates that privately run, government-funded Medicare Advantage plans are overcharging U.S. taxpayers by up to $140 billion per year, a sum that could be used to completely eliminate Medicare Part B premiums or fully fund Medicare’s prescription drug program.

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But when accounting for induced utilization—”the idea that people with supplemental coverage are likely to use more health care because their insurance pays for more of their cost”—PNHP estimated that the annual overbilling total could be as high as $140 billion.

“This is unconscionable, unsustainable, and in our current healthcare system, unremarkable,” says the new report. “Medicare Advantage is just another example of the endless greed of the insurance industry poisoning American healthcare, siphoning money from vulnerable patients while delaying and denying necessary and often lifesaving treatment.”

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The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that adding dental, vision, and hearing to Medicare and Medicaid would cost just under $84 billion in the most costly year of the expansion.

“While there is obvious reason to fix these issues in MA and to expand traditional Medicare for the sake of all beneficiaries,” the new report states, “the deep structural problems with our healthcare system will only be fixed when we achieve improved Medicare for All.”

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“If seniors understood that the $165 coming out of their monthly Social Security checks was going essentially dollar for dollar into profiteering of Medicare Advantage, (ed. note – my bolding) they would and should be angry about that,” said Weisbart. “We think that we pay premiums to fund Medicare. The only reason we have to do that is because we’re letting Medicare Advantage take that money from us.”

I heartily recommend reading Mr. Johnson’s full summary. 

Thom Hartmann is also on top of this report and he has keen observations:

Whatever you decide on regarding treatment, many Advantage insurance company will regularly second-guess and do everything they can to intimidate you into paying yourself out-of-pocket. Often, they simply refuse payment and wait for you to file a complaint against them; for people seriously ill the cumbersome “appeals” process is often more than they can handle.

As a result, hospitals and doctor groups across the nation are beginning to refuse to take Medicare Advantage patients. California-based Scripps Health, for example, cares for around 30,000 people on Medicare Advantage and recently notified all of them that Scripps will no longer offer medical services to them unless they pay out-of-pocket or revert back to real Medicare.

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Not only is the Medicare Advantage scam a screw job for healthcare providers and people who are on the programs and are unfortunate enough to get sick, it’s also preventing Americans from getting expanded benefits from real Medicare.

MAGA Republicans create a circus style diversion to draw attention away from America’s real problems. They have no solutions and frankly have no plans to do a damn thing about fixing our real problems such as a medical system that doesn’t serve the needs of our citizens. If they won’t do the work needed, fire them and hire somebody that will.

When I think of America’s ridiculous health care system I think of Howard Beale in the 1976 movie “Network” – I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it any more! And you should be too.