General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsREPUBLICANS (still) SCHEMING TO PRIVATIZE MEDICARE.
When they do this, it sounds like there will be no notice, no public comment period. Nothing. What will happen is that every senior who enrolls in Medicare will be forced onto Medicare Advantage and STUCK THERE for three years. Getting on traditional Medicare after that is difficult, if not impossible.
IOW, the default right now is for them to go on traditional Medicare, with MA as an option. SHitler wants to switch that around so that MA is the default and traditional Medicare is an option.
Seniors signing up for Medicare will have to be VERY CAREFUL to ensure that when they enroll, they REFUSE the MA plan and choose traditional Medicare Part B. This won't be easy. Trump's goons will probably hide the traditional Part B option and make it difficult to find and sign up for traditional Medicare Part B.
This shit sandwich is part of Project 2025 and is included in a Republican "Medicare Reform Act" bill, which has seemingly gone nowhere in Congress, so I guess now the plan is just to make the change WITHOUT Congress - WITHOUT the representatives of We the People having any say in the matter.
The Medicare Reform Act SHUNTS Medicare applicants (Part B) into the cheapest Medicare Advantage program possible (DIFFICULT to find and enroll in traditional Medicare instead), and forces them to stay on MA for THREE YEARS. And it's almost impossible after that to get on normal Medicare: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3467/text
https://www.commondreams.org/news/medicare-advantage-default-enrollment
Chris Klomp, the Trump administrations director of Medicare and deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), told STAT last month that enrolling seniors in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans by default is something that were thinking through. MA plans are funded by the federal government and run by private insurance companies such as UnitedHealthcare and Humana, both of which have been accused of improperly denying necessary care to patients and overcharging taxpayers.
The default enrollment scheme was floated in the far-right Project 2025 agenda that President Donald Trump has repeatedly tried to disavow. Currently, older Americans who have received Social Security benefits for at least four months before they turn 65 are automatically enrolled in traditional Medicare, and they can choose to enroll in an MA plan as an alternative.
Another bad idea straight from Project 2025, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said in response to Klomps comments on the proposed default enrollment change. Medicare Advantage is private, for-profit insurance that overcharges American taxpayers by billions every year and regularly denies seniors the care they need.
Making Medicare Advantage the default option hurts patients and taxpayers, Pocan added, but it will make insurance execs a lot of money.
With Mehmet Oz running the agency, they can move incredibly quickly to make that happen, and they are.
Dan
(5,227 posts)ColoringFool
(765 posts)paleotn
(22,318 posts)wolfie001
(7,756 posts)Sometimes that's the only words in my post. He's a monster. A Hitlerian Greedy Fraud Pig.
RedWhiteBlueIsRacist
(2,080 posts)Auggie
(33,192 posts)I bet even current Plan B enrollees will have keep alert for notices that they will be switched unless they choose not to switch from their current plan. Sort of like privacy notices that ask for your preference.
CousinIT
(12,576 posts)not fooled
(6,699 posts)Unfortunately with the current crime syndicate in power, deception and harming people are uppermost.
Unfortunately, many if not most 'Muricans either aren't equipped or can't outrun the evil intentions of krasnov's administration. Many of those 'Muricans even put that administration in power. Too bad the rest of us get dragged down as well.
LaRaven
(241 posts)Its the Voight and Project 2025 Thats doing this! Trump can barely pay attention to the war
hes concerned with this damn ballroom and fing arc! Hes just signing what they put in front of him with his magnificent sharpie.
CousinIT
(12,576 posts)I think I'll modify my headline. The Common Dreams article says "Trump," but it should say "Trump and Republicans" or just "Republicans".
GiqueCee
(4,361 posts)... and mindless malice is pure evil. Russell Vought deserves to be drawn and quartered. I'm not convinced that he's even human. The most malevolent Klingon Gene Roddenberry ever conceived would blanch and say, "Damn, dude! Back off a parsec or two!"