Taking Advantage of Medicare Advantage Accounts

As part of the [subsidize insurance companies] I mean the medicare prescription drug benefit bill, Republicans allowed firms to compete with medicare with fee for service medicare advantage accounts (previously they could only compete with HMO accounts). The cost of medicare advantage to the treasury is about six billion a year (roughly equal to total compensation of all fortune 500 CEOs put together).

Unsurprisingly, unscrupulous insurance salesmen have acted like insurance salesmen in the scramble for the cash.

Kathleen Healey, a lawyer at the Alabama Department of Senior Services, said: “Despite the prohibition of door-to-door marketing, agents arrive on residents’ doorsteps stating that the president sent them, or that they represent Medicare. Some telemarketers insist they are calling from Medicare, and they tell beneficiaries that they will lose their Medicare if they do not sign up for the telemarketer’s plan.”

David A. Lipschutz, a lawyer at California Health Advocates, a nonprofit group,
explains

“Every enrollee in a private Medicare plan is a potential source of substantial profits,” Mr. Lipschutz said.

Doh. It's time to close the spigot. Republicans will not be eager to filibuster after some hearings following up on the article by ROBERT PEAR