A big headline today in the Wall Street Journal is that literally thousands of doctors have been dropped from Medicare Advantage health plans by United Healthcare. I wonder just how many people understand what that means.
First of all, let's consider Medicare Advantage. That is a program that covers about a quarter of all folks over 65 who qualify for Medicare. Basically it is a private insurance plan paid for mostly by the government to provide coverage for seniors who select it rather than regular Medicare. It actually cost the government slightly less than regular Medicare for each person enrolled.
United Healthcare runs a series of different plans including the biggest of all the Medicare Advantage plans: the one sponsored by AARP. There are literally millions of folks in the United Healthcare plans. That means that when United Healthcare drops thousands of doctors off the rolls, it affects huge numbers of people.
When Obamacare was passed, one change that the architects of the law insisted on was to limit reimbursements for Medicare Advantage plans. Even though these plans cost the government less per patient than regular Medicare while providing better coverage than regular Medicare, the drafters of the Obamacare law were offended that private insurers were profiting from Medicare Advantage and decided to take some of those profits in order to pay the exorbitant cost of Obamacare. This was part of the 700 billion dollars that Obamacare took from Medicare.
Not surprising, since Obamacare squeezed the reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage, the insurers are trying to lower their costs in order to stay in business. This means cutting payments to doctors, a move which has resulted in some medical practices leaving the program. Also, in order to make the Medicare Advantage programs more desirable for the doctors, United Health has been forced to reduce the number of doctors so that participation in the program brings more patients to the offices of those in the program. Like the punchline of the old joke, these doctors make it up in volume.
When one puts this all together, the result is that seniors on Medicare who are in Medicare Advantage plans may not be able to keep their doctors. So, not only did Obama lie when he told folks under 65 that they could keep their health plans and their doctors, he also lied to seniors when he told them that they too could keep their doctors.
I wonder how long it will take for this realization to sink in.
First of all, let's consider Medicare Advantage. That is a program that covers about a quarter of all folks over 65 who qualify for Medicare. Basically it is a private insurance plan paid for mostly by the government to provide coverage for seniors who select it rather than regular Medicare. It actually cost the government slightly less than regular Medicare for each person enrolled.
United Healthcare runs a series of different plans including the biggest of all the Medicare Advantage plans: the one sponsored by AARP. There are literally millions of folks in the United Healthcare plans. That means that when United Healthcare drops thousands of doctors off the rolls, it affects huge numbers of people.
When Obamacare was passed, one change that the architects of the law insisted on was to limit reimbursements for Medicare Advantage plans. Even though these plans cost the government less per patient than regular Medicare while providing better coverage than regular Medicare, the drafters of the Obamacare law were offended that private insurers were profiting from Medicare Advantage and decided to take some of those profits in order to pay the exorbitant cost of Obamacare. This was part of the 700 billion dollars that Obamacare took from Medicare.
Not surprising, since Obamacare squeezed the reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage, the insurers are trying to lower their costs in order to stay in business. This means cutting payments to doctors, a move which has resulted in some medical practices leaving the program. Also, in order to make the Medicare Advantage programs more desirable for the doctors, United Health has been forced to reduce the number of doctors so that participation in the program brings more patients to the offices of those in the program. Like the punchline of the old joke, these doctors make it up in volume.
When one puts this all together, the result is that seniors on Medicare who are in Medicare Advantage plans may not be able to keep their doctors. So, not only did Obama lie when he told folks under 65 that they could keep their health plans and their doctors, he also lied to seniors when he told them that they too could keep their doctors.
I wonder how long it will take for this realization to sink in.
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