You're Probably Getting Screwed by Republicans' Medicare Lies

I don’t like being lied to and I am sure you don’t either.

COURIER @CourierNewsroom

Insurance companies and Republicans in Congress are lying to you. @JDScholten has the story 👇

So why is the insurance industry and their Republican supporters in Congress trying to scare seniors into believing the Biden administration is cutting Medicare?

Not only do I think it’s a lie, the Kaiser Family Foundation (a nonprofit organization focusing on national health issues) said the claim is “False.”

And if that’s not enough, let’s just follow the money. Why are the insurance companies busy telling Wall Street they expect Medicare Advantage to drive serious growth for their businesses?

Just like here. Here. Here. And here.

Medicare Advantage plans are a type of Medicare that’s becoming increasingly popular, doubling in the last decade and nearly half of all people enrolled in Medicare. And the insurers like it because it’s very profitable. 

Here’s how it works: The federal government pays private insurance companies for Medicare Advantage per patient. The sicker a Medicare Advantage patient is, the more money a private insurer will receive from the federal government to cover the cost of care.

What the insurance industry is up in arms about (and the reason for the lies about cutting Medicare) is the Biden Administrations rule change. The change allows the government to recoup overpayments.

So let’s say you have a Medicare Advantage plan and you go in for a checkup and the insurer overcharged by saying you had open heart surgery. The government can now recoup that money.

A study shows that by 2032, this rule change will recover an extra $4.7 billion! 

That’s accountability. That’s good for taxpayers. It keeps Insurance companies honest. And it’s not screwing us over!

YOU’RE PROBABLY (ALSO) GETTING SCREWED BY:

WAGE THEFT

One thing we need to talk more about is wage theft. In Iowa, employers are stealing over $900 million a year from an estimated 250,000 Iowa workers — about 1 in 7 workers and their families. This is happening across the country and often goes unpunished despite state systems meant to combat it.

NOT THE USDA

In some good news, the Agriculture Department is scheduled to publish a proposed rule that would remove current regulatory requirements that prevent online shopping in the WIC program. 

MONOPOLIES

Thousands of organizations worldwide, hundreds of Nobel laureates and former prime ministers and presidents, and even the Pope demand an emergency waiver of Big Pharma monopolies now imposed by trade agreements. These barriers empower a few pharmaceutical corporations to decide how much and where vital COVID-19 medicines will be made and sold.

CORPORATE COLLUSION

A recent study analyzed corporate earnings calls to demonstrate how corporations exploited the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and other supply chain shocks. They find that corporations engaged in tacit collusion and exercised their monopoly power to raise prices and fatten profit margins. 

BEFORE YOU GO

Before you go, I need two things from you: 1) if you like something, please share it on social media or the next time you have coffee with a friend. 2) Ideas, if you have any ideas for future newsletter content please comment below. Thank you.

Standing Tall for All,

J.D. Scholten

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