Here's How Much We Paid With Medicare | Medicare Supplement vs Advantage

My mom saw a total of $709,440 in bills related to her cancer battle over the next 10 months. In this video, I show how much she would have had to pay if she were on Original Medicare only versus what she would pay on a Medicare Supplement plan or a Medicare Advantage plan.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77YF-TL0n-8

 

Medicare Advantage: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejoi9yfLVCc

Rep. AOC Questions HHS Secretary Kennedy About Corruption in Medicare Advantage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggn2ff6aQCg

 

We’re cancer doctors. Here’s why Medicare Advantage fails America’s elderly.

Last year, countrywide and across disease groups, 79 percent of patients who experienced a delay or denial of coverage paid out of pocket for medication at least sometimes. Unsurprisingly, more than 100 million Americans are in medical debt. 

Of those who appealed between 2019 and 2023, over 80 percent were approved, implying that the initial claims were valid. This game of attrition directly contradicts Medicare Advantage's promise to provide efficient, patient-centered healthcare…

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5342603-medicare-advantage-failing-elderly-patients/ 

 

UnitedHealth’s collapse reveals the flaw at the heart of Medicare Advantage

This is the fundamental flaw at the heart of Medicare Advantage. Plans are beholden to shareholders, who seek short-term profits. Profits are only achievable through the widespread denial of care. Meanwhile, plans use these profits to buy up entities along the health care supply chain, whose clinicians and other employees can do the insurance company's bidding...

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/unitedhealth-group-care-collapse-medicare-advantage-rcna208528 

 

Rep. AOC Breaks Down Medicare Advantage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIRiLXPlCTw

 

The Medicare Advantage Ripoff that Every American Should Know About

"As Schakowsky, Khanna, and Pocan note, "Only Medicare is Medicare." Don't be fooled by the Medicare Advantage scam. 

And now that you know, pass it on and save somebody else's health…"

https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-medicare-advantage-ripoff-that-462

Taxpayers spend 22% more per patient to support Medicare Advantage – the private alternative to Medicare that promised to cost less

"… For every extra dollar that taxpayers pay to Medicare Advantage companies, only roughly 50 to 60 cents goes to beneficiaries in the form of lower premiums or extra benefits. 

As Medicare Advantage becomes increasingly expensive, the Medicare program continues to face funding challenges. 

In our view, in order for Medicare to survive long term, Medicare Advantage reform is needed..."

https://theconversation.com/taxpayers-spend-22-more-per-patient-to-support-medicare-advantage-the-private-alternative-to-medicare-that-promised-to-cost-less-241997

Major insurers scaling back Medicare 2025 plans could squeeze seniors

This year more than ever, seniors enrolled in MA need to double-check that they're in the plan that best fits their needs, said Vijay Kotte, CEO of Medicare brokerage service GoHealth. 

"I am still screaming as loud as I can that every Medicare consumer needs to shop and compare their benefits," Kotte said…

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/03/medicare-advantage-plans-2025-beneficiaries

Hospitals' Medicare Advantage peril grows: S&P

As Medicare Advantage coverage balloons, MA plans are tightening control of how health services are used by requiring preapprovals for care, denying claims and paying less than what providers bill for...

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/20/hospitals-medicare-advantage-perils-grow

The Medicare "Gotcha" that will surprise you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtSeHOsvoFM

The Differences are Bigger Than You Think | Medicare Advantage vs Supplement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOP76hMPiDs

Medicare Advantage plans are popular, but some seniors feel trapped when ill : Shots - Health News : NPR

"It's one of those things that people might like them on the front end because of their low to zero premiums and if they are getting a couple of these extra benefits — the vision, dental, that kind of thing," says Christine Huberty, a lead benefit specialist supervising attorney for the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources. 

"But it's when they actually need to use it for these bigger issues," Huberty says, "that's when people realize, 'Oh no, this isn't going to help me at all.'"… 

"The problem is that once you get into Medicare Advantage, if you have a couple of chronic conditions and you want to leave Medicare Advantage, even if Medicare Advantage isn't meeting your needs, you might not have any ability to switch back to traditional Medicare," Meyers says…

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/03/1222561870/older-americans-say-they-feel-trapped-in-medicare-advantage-plans

How Corporations Raided Medicare with “ Medicare Advantage “

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nBMbcRtteU

Medicare Advantage is giving away billions to corporate insurers. It’s time we put a stop to it. | The Hill

Medicare Advantage plans tout their low premiums and extra benefits, but often these are only worth it as long as you're healthy. If you get sick and need complex or significant care, plans start to show their true colors. Difficult authorization processes and narrow networks can make getting treated under an MA plan a nightmare. In fact, high-need patients with chronic conditions and patients in their last year of life are substantially more likely to switch out of MA and back to traditional Medicare, tired of having to justify each and every needed procedure or medication to their insurance company…

https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/4315313-medicare-advantage-is-giving-away-billions-to-corporate-insurers-its-time-we-put-a-stop-to-it/

Biden administration seeks to crack down on private Medicare health plans - The Washington Post

In addition, the rule change would require private health plans to notify individual Medicare customers halfway through a year what supplemental benefits remain available to them. According to an HHS fact sheet, a typical Medicare Advantage plan offers 23 health benefits not found in traditional Medicare, but usage is low. The proposal's goal is to "ensure that the large federal investment of taxpayer dollars in these benefits is actually making its way to beneficiaries and are not primarily used as a marketing ploy," the HHS document says. 

Another facet of the proposal would require private Medicare health plans to expand access to mental health services by expanding the supply of behavioral health practitioners in offices and clinics, including marriage and family therapists and addiction treatment specialists.…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/11/06/medicare-advantage-health-plan-biden/

'Deny, deny, deny': By repeatedly rejecting claims, Medicare Advantage plans threaten rural hospitals and patients, say CEOs

Last year, a federal audit from 2013 was released showing that 8 of the 10 largest plans had submitted inflated bills to Medicare. As for the quality of care, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, a non-partisan agency of Congress, said in a March report that it could not conclude Medicare Advantage plans "systematically provide better quality" over regular Medicare. Even worse, because the plans routinely deny coverage for necessary care, they are threatening the existence of struggling rural hospitals nationwide,..

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/rejecting-claims-medicare-advantage-rural-hospitals-rcna121012

Mayo Clinic WARNS All Medicare Advantage Holders About THIS 😱

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1r3JCoCY-c

Biden Urged to Crack Down on 'Terrifying' Use of AI by Medicare Advantage Insurers

Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined healthcare campaigner Ady Barkan and others on Monday in sounding alarm over a recent investigation showing that Medicare Advantage insurers are using unregulated artificial intelligence systems to determine when to end payments for patients' treatments, a practice that has prematurely terminated coverage for vulnerable seniors.

STAT reported earlier this month that while "health insurance companies have rejected medical claims for as long as they've been around," AI is "driving their denials to new heights in Medicare Advantage," a privately run program funded by the federal government…

https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-ai-medicare-advantage

Senate Dems Blast Medicare Advantage Giants Over 'Exorbitant' CEO Pay

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley are calling attention to the massive profits and "exorbitant" executive salaries of top Medicare Advantage insurers such as UnitedHealthcare and Humana, which are leading a lobbying blitz against efforts to combat widespread fraud in the privately run healthcare program…

https://www.commondreams.org/news/medicare-advantage-ceo-pay