OPINION: 'While we still need to address access in terms of geography and specialty distribution, eliminating the profit motive will make major steps toward access and improved quality, and move us toward health care for all,' writes Tucson resident Jos...
The insurance plans known as “Medicare Advantage” are incorrectly named. They are not Medicare and they may offer little or no advantage. They are a form of private insurance, cost Medicare a lot of money, and in some situations can indeed hurt you.
In fact, Medicare Advantage participants are taken out of Medicare and enrolled in a private managed care program. The companies running them receive not only the money that would have gone to traditional Medicare but additional funds. They spend a great deal of money on lobbying Congress and on political contributions, and make billions in profit, in a number of ways.
The goal of these programs is not to provide health coverage, it is to generate profit. MA plans make money, as demonstrated by the amount that they spend on aggressive marketing, by mail and on television. The Commonwealth Fund describes this in detail: “Soaring private plan enrollment has led to a sharp increase in marketing and sales efforts, some misleading and inaccurate.” MA plans can keep 15% of the money they get for profit and overhead, spending only 85% on paying for care.
Privatizing Medicare is absolutely the wrong way to go. The right way to go is to keep the structure of traditional Medicare, where anyone can use any doctor or hospital, where there is no profit taken out, and overhead is about 2%. Then increase its benefits so that it covers 100% of charges so people don’t have to buy a Medicare Supplement Plan, as well as cover dental, vision, hearing, etc.
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