Write your congresscritters and ask them to cut out Medicare Advantage

January 4, 2009

Dear Representative Dicks,

As we all know, U.S. health care and coverage costs are the highest in the world, yet we rank 37th in overall health care efficiency. I believe that the only way to fix this is if everyone is in the same risk pool, i.e., a single payer system. But first and urgently, we need to fix Medicare. Since 2003 and the Medicare Modernization Act, Medicare is becoming increasingly privatized and inefficient. We need to return to the original Medicare which covers all senior citizens in a single payer system. Medicare should be able to negotiate with Pharmaceutical Companies as a single voice.

1. The Medicare Advantage plans cost the government 12% more per beneficiary than traditional Medicare—an estimated $54 billion from 2009-2012. (GAO-Government Accountability Office)

2. Overhead in these plans is 13% compared to 3% for traditional Medicare (New York Times 2/28/08)

3. Enrollment in these plans is increasing because of the false advertising mainly by AARP and its underwriter, United Health, which makes the most profit of any health insurance.

4.Medicare Advantage plans are supposed to repay any overpayments to the insured in order to lower payments. Most of these plans have not done this and the Bush administration did not audit these companies nor enforce the law. (AP article published in the Tacoma New Tribune)

5. Medicare part D premiums increased 17% in 2008.

In addition, drug and insurance companies spent a combined $2.2 billion lobbying congress between 1998 and 2007. They succeeded in making Medicare part D a windfall for drug companies by prohibiting Medicare from negotiating drug prices.

To save money, I suggest that Congress immediately assure that all Medicare Advantage are audited and that unspent funds are returned to the insured. Then, the Medicare Advantage plans should be discontinued as soon as possible. This would bring money back into traditional Medicare and prevent further waste. The Medicare prescription drug plan needs to be one plan instead of the 1400 or so plans nationally.