Ryan/Biden -- Medicare Advantage and Obama's IGNORANCE!!!

[healthmyths]

Ryan/Biden debate WILL discuss Medicare and specifically Medicare Advantage Plans... and no surprise Obama totally IGNORANT about Medicare Advantage plans.
I AM NOT ignorant because I am one of the 4 million that have Medicare Advantage that OBAMA wants to eliminate.

Last night Obama said and I quote:
OBAMA: Jim, if I -- if I can just respond very quickly, first of all, every study has shown that Medicare has lower administrative costs than private insurance does, which is why seniors are generally pretty happy with it."

What the ignorant Obama doesn't KNOW evidently is MEDICARE does NOT ADMINISTER one CLAIM!

There are FOR profit companies that are contracted by Medicare to administer the 1 billion claims! So this crap about having LoWER costs is NOT taking in account that the FEES charged by the providers are managed by for profit companies! And those FOR profits have actually LOSSES that are absorbed by their commercial side!
Almost ALL of you with Blue Cross are covering the losses from Medicare costs and THAT's one of the reasons health insurance companies have increasing costs.
For example:

Beyond that, the losses at Medicare call into question the efficacy of contracting with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies to process Medicare claims, spot suspicious billing, and refer cases to law enforcement.
The contractors are primarily subsidiaries of big health insurers, such as WellPoint and Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Government auditors have criticized these companies for poor performance in the past and faulted Medicare officials for not holding them accountable. A report last year by the Health and Human Services inspector general said one group of 18 contractors identified just $835 million in overpayments in 2007, and 16 of them referred $54 million or less for collection. Medicare is now consolidating that work in seven regional contracts. Overall, in the last fiscal year (2010), Medicare paid $956 million to these contractors for claims processing and fraud detection, according to government figures.

Read more at How Medicare Wastes Almost $50 billion a Year

More on Medicare Advantage ... which is FAR superior then traditional fee for service Medicare from MY SUBJECTIVE POINT OF VIEW!!!

 

[healthmyths]

Medicare Advantage PLANS and why they are superior..
MY
Basic function is a for profit company bids on specific areas of the country to manage all Medicare expenses for beneficiaries.
In my case in FL the for profit company is paid (like approximately most Plans) $800 per month by Medicare.
OUT of that $800 my Advantage plan pays any claims etc.

TO ME the ADVANTAGES ARE:
1) I have $96.40 MORE in my SS check versus If I didn't have an Advantage plan... $96.40 be deducted.
2) I don't pay ANY co-payments for doctor visits... without Advantage plan.. 20% of every visit @$100/visit.. $20 to me! In a year nearly $100.00!
3) $600 a year in OTC supplies, bandaids, aspirin, vitamins,etc. all no charge... But under regular Medicare ZERO!
4) Much lower hospital co-pays with my Advantage plan then traditional Medicare easily $1,000s per episode!

These are just 4 basic COST savings that Obama will eliminate when he ignorantly eliminates Advantage Plans!!!!

 

[Katzndogz]

How do you get medicare to pay for OTC supplies?

 

[healthmyths]

How do you get medicare to pay for OTC supplies?

It's because Medicare PAYS the Advantage plan a flat monthly fee.. $800.00.
It is UP to the Advantage plan to offer members benefits and in my decision to choose Freedom Health over the dozens of others that were pitching me.. I liked the idea they offer the OTC supplies.

Medicare simply writes the check... Freedom Health administers ALL my health care expenses... including their offer of OtC supplies...
Look this: http://2012.freedomhealth.com/pdf/2012/sb/FRH12SB70727677.pdf

 

[NYcarbineer]

Your Medicare Advantage is getting an expensive subsidy, of course you like it. You're mooching off the rest of us.

 

[uscitizen]

Medicare Advantage costs the taxpayers more money than does standard Medicare.
Privatization works?

 

[healthmyths]

Your Medicare Advantage is getting an expensive subsidy, of course you like it. You're mooching off the rest of us.

AH... but YOU don't know evidently as much about Medicare as I do!

Are you aware that Traditional Medicare has at least $50 billion a year in fraud?
Medicare Advantage nearly zero fraud cost to Medicare..why because the Advantage plan pays if there is any.. not Medicare!

Are you aware that Traditional Medicare processes ZERO claims???
Medicare for profit contractors process the claims. Many of these contractors are SUBSIDIZING their costly Medicare contracts by their commercial side i.e. the Blue Cross plans managing Medicare contracts have costs absorbed by their private health insurance revenues!

As a result traditional Medicare is FALSELY accusing Advantage PLANS because current administration HATES for Profits!
YET these stupid Medicare people seem to forget.. PROFITS generate TAXES!!!

So you like these dummies KEEP bringing up how BAD these "expensive subsidies" are YET you don't SUBTRACT the TAXES PAID by these Advantage Plans i.e.
1) EMPLOYEES/EMPLOYERS Direct payment to SS/Medicare every month DEDUCTED from their accounts ... paid to the government! You forget that?
2) TAXES paid on profits by companies! Average net profits are 4% and they pay 35% of that in corporate taxes!

SO this "costly subsidizing"???

A) Medicare has no fraud with Advantage plans.
B) Medicare being SUBSIDIZED in traditional by contractors absorbing losses and passed on to private insurance plans
C) Medicare gets payments from Advantage plans AS employers/employees... BUT you forget that don't you???

 

[Greenbeard]

Medicare Advantage nearly zero fraud cost to Medicare..

Bullshit.

Our findings indicate that MA organizations lack a common understanding of key fraud and abuse program terms and raise questions about whether all MA organizations are implementing their programs to detect and address potential fraud and abuse effectively.

One hundred thirty-seven MA organizations identified a total of 1,431,683 incidents of potential Part C and Part D fraud and abuse in 2009. The volume of incidents identified varied significantly. Fourteen organizations each identified more than 1,000 incidents. In contrast, 41 organizations each identified fewer than 10 incidents in 2009. Appendix A provides the total numbers of incidents identified across MA organizations. Appendix B provides the numbers of incidents reported by individual MA organizations.

Some MA organizations did not report using any proactive methods (e.g., claims monitoring) to identify their potential Part C and/or Part D fraud and abuse incidents. Many organizations indicated that they used hotlines and other reporting and complaint mechanisms, along with other types of fraud and abuse detection methods, to identify potential fraud and abuse. However, some organizations reported relying solely on hotlines and complaints to identify potential Part C and/or Part D incidents. These organizations identified 12 or fewer incidents in 2009.

 

[Lakhota]

Medicare Advantage sucks! Make Medicare the same for everyone nationwide!