Medicare Advantage patients were denied care by the insurance companies that regular Medicare patients received. Cases with cancer patients in this article.
The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is extremely concerned about the findings in this report, especially the details related to patients with cancer. They recommend Congressional action…but in the meantime…
Get regular Medicare (plus a Medigap policy), not Medicare Advantage.
Wendy
"The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is extremely concerned about the findings in this report, especially the details related to patients with cancer. They recommend Congressional action…but in the meantime…
Get regular Medicare (plus a Medigap policy), not Medicare Advantage."
Medicare Advantage plans are those designed to enrich the owners of the owners of those health plans by providing the least amount of care possible. They throw in a few freebies like ‘free eyeglasses and exams’ and ‘dental checkups’. Maybe even give you a few bucks back on your SS check.
But…they take 10-15% off the top…which means you get less health care, get stuck often with HMO like doc practices/nurse practitioners, forced to use generics even if not doing the job for you, denied expensive drugs (Chemo), denied operations, etc.
Now, if you never get sick or need expensive care…then they are ‘a good deal’…
However, they are also like song Hotel California.(once you check in - you can’t check out )- Once you get in a Medicare Advantage plan, it can be difficult or impossible to get back to a plain Medicare policy. You’ll probably have to take a physical and divulge your entire medical history. If you are very sick, using expensive drugs…you might not be able to switch back at all, or at 5x the cost now. If you are high risk, you might not be able to buy a supplement plan at any cost.
Many “job creators” have business plans that take advantage of people who are bad at arithmetic. But if you point that out, you’re “a socialist” or a “business-killer”.
Given the widespread bipartisan culture of corruption in Congress, I see little chance of getting any relief.
Fun fact; every state has a ‘State Health Insurance Program’ (SHIP) funded by the Federal Gov’t that uses volunteers to counsel and advise seniors on their Medicare choices. But the volunteers are specifically prohibited from telling anyone that Medicare Advantage is crap.
The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is extremely concerned about the findings in this report, especially the details related to patients with cancer. They recommend Congressional action…but in the meantime…
Get regular Medicare (plus a Medigap policy), not Medicare Advantage. Wendy
All sounds perfectly simple to me … rolls eyes!
Anymouse
Far more important, Russia has lost 40% of it’s combat tanks since the war began, mostly to all the western high tech man carried rocket launchers given to the Ukrainians that were designed for that very purpose. The relatively cheap Swedish Karl Gustav (upgraded from one I carried in my youth) has been a standout with simplicity and lethality matching their more expensive competitors.
Of course the soldiers that carry and use them have the training that make the raw Russian troops easy pickings.
Far more important, Russia has lost 40% of it’s combat tanks since the war began, mostly to all the western high tech man carried rocket launchers given to the Ukrainians that were designed for that very purpose. The relatively cheap Swedish Karl Gustav (upgraded from one I carried in my youth) has been a standout with simplicity and lethality matching their more expensive competitors.
Of course the soldiers that carry and use them have the training that make the raw Russian troops easy pickings.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, all Medicare Advantage plans must provide the same services as Original Medicare, including: Inpatient hospital stays such as inpatient cancer treatments. Outpatient radiation treatment. Outpatient chemotherapy medications.
…all Medicare Advantage plans must provide the same services as Original Medicare…
Aside from the allowable overhead costs, which adds to overall costs, MA plans can simply deny those “same services” it is supposed to provide. There might be some of that going on…
I had this for one year. every doctor I called said that I would have to find another doctor. so I change back to supplement. the only advantage I found was for the doctors to not see you.
did not have to explain to anyone why I changed back. no physical etc…
I had this for one year. every doctor I called said that I would have to find another doctor.
The Medicare Advantage plans I looked at, all were preferred-provider plans that allowed you to see only certain selected doctors in a small area.
When Obamacare kicked in, I tried to sign up for it and, allegedly based on our medical history, assigned us a group of doctors that we have never lived within 15 miles of - and hadn’t spent a week at a time within 80 miles of in the prior eight years. Utterly ignoring a hospital admission about 2500 miles away from there…
Now, the PPO-type plan promoters kind of choke when I tell them that we can usually be found somewhere between Missoula and Yuma, but occasionally are further afield for a couple months at a time.