Wake Up, America!
August 26, 2009 at 4:04 pm Judith Stein 2 comments
In a column in the Washington Post on August 24th, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele purported to be worried about the damage health care reform will do to Medicare.
Really? Talk about raiding Medicare: Can you say “Medicare Advantage”? The last Administration privatized Medicare in 2003 with the Medicare Advantage system that lured private insurance into the program by paying huge subsidies of more than 14% on top of what the traditional, public Medicare program is paid for the same services.
Can you say “Part D”? The last Administration created the incomprehensible Part D prescription drug program that made Medicare drug coverage available ONLY through private plans and actually wrote into law a PROHIBITION against Medicare negotiating prices with drug companies. Talk about a boondoggle for Big Pharma!
The Bush Administration created a windfall for private insurance and pharmaceutical companies – all at the expense of the cost-effective public Medicare program, seniors, and taxpayers.
Come on, America, Wake Up! Don’t buy into using health care reform to create another welfare program for private insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Haven’t we given them enough by giving them Medicare?
Entry filed under: Health Care Reform, Medicare, Public vs. Private Health Coverage. Tags: Health Care Reform, Medicare, Public plan.
CMA Health Policy Blog 
1.
azagent | August 27, 2009 at 3:58 am
The plug is being pulled on Medicare Advantage – starting in 2010. This is a good thing for Medicare, but there could be some backlash from seniors. Pres Obama has said, “your Medicare benfits will not change”….but he is wrong when it comes to Medicare Advantage.
I heard today from someone inside a Medicare Advantage company that they are preparing their agents and employees to deal with all the questions and concerns they will get from their enrollees when the 2010 benefits are announced. Apparently there will be big changes that will cause quite a stir among seniors in Medicare Advantage plans.
I have a feeling Republicans have set a trap for the Democrats, who hate Medicare Advantage. In order to cut out the waste in Medicare Advantage, 10.5 million seniors are going to see their Medicare benefits effected. In some key states, up to 25-35% of seniors are in Medicare Advantage plans (California, AZ, Pennsylvania, Florida, Oregon.) This has to be dangerous territory for Democrats as Republicans will jump all over changes to Medicare Advantage benefits.
October – December is going to be a very interesting time for those of us involved in the Medicare market.
2.
aikanae | September 2, 2009 at 11:38 am
When Clinton discovered the disparity and overpayment to Medicare HMO’s, there was an attempt to reduce the supplement payments over several years.
The result? Private insurers dropped Medicare HMO’s plans – pulling out of markets completely, in unison.
One of the cost-saving measures Obama wants is to reduce payments to private Medicare HMO’s so they are more at par with traditional Medicare. Can we guess what their reaction will be?
Again – the bottom line seems to be, why does the US public need to support an industry that costs money? My doctor provides medical care, not my insurance company.
Private health insurance companies operate more like investment firms. That’s how they can still post profits while at the same time they are loosing beneficiaries.
The people they “insure” aren’t needed.