Older Americans say they feel trapped in Medicare Advantage plans

[Duaine]

"I have very little control over my actual medical care," he says, adding that he now advises friends not to sign up for the private plans. "I think that people are not understanding what Medicare Advantage is all about."

Enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans has grown substantially in the past few decades, enticing more than half of eligible people, primarily those 65 or older, with low premium costs and perks like dental and vision insurance. And as the private plans' share of the Medicare patient pie has ballooned to 30.8 million people, so too have concerns about the insurers' aggressive sales tactics and misleading coverage claims.

Enrollees, like Timmins, who sign on when they are healthy can find themselves trapped as they grow older and sicker.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health...they-feel-trapped-in-medicare-advantage-plans

 

[InsuranceGuy29]

“NPR.” Forgive me while I collect myself after belly laughing on the floor for 5 minutes.

Okay, I’m better now. Yes, the “horrors” of $0 monthly premiums, absolutely no deductibles, WAY more benefits than original Medicare, and being able to get a million dollars worth of medical services for an average of $3,000/year, tops. THE HORROR!!!!!!

NPR won’t stop with their sensationalism and propaganda until everyone is sucked into their “utopian” ideal of “MedicAID-For-All.”

They say “MediCARE-For-All,” but the shitty system they describe is MedicAID. No different than Commie Obama and “if you LiKe YoUr DoCtOr you can keep yOuR dOcToR.” Yea, that was indeed a huge lie. Surprise, folks, the government lies constantly!

The fact of the matter is, these people hate anything that’s “for-profit,” while simultaneously not realizing that, by law, most of the profits MUST go towards Medicare beneficiaries.

I challenge them to name me anything that isn’t “for-profit.” Hell, even charities are for-profit. These tree-huggers, that are completely out of touch with reality, just hate insurance companies.

That’s what this is REALLY all about. So they sensationalize and exaggerate while leaving out key details and nuances.

“Mr. Johnson couldn’t get care when he needed surgery on those evil Medicare Advantage plans,” and as you dig into the details it turns out that Mr. Johnson’s inept doctor’s staff submitted the wrong code, which caused the delay.

It’s funny because, I have a lot of clients on Medicare Advantage (as well as supplements), and my Medicare Advantage clients never run into these “HORRORS!” that they speak of. So something just isn’t adding up.

People in this country have access to the most advanced first-world care that keeps them alive for INSANELY longer than average human expectancy, and what do they do? They still bitch.

This care is massively expensive. It’s not “free,” nor can it be. If I was them, I’d be appreciative that these plans even exist.

It’s just another symptom of a MASSIVE entitlement complex. Not surprisingly being led by massively entitled Baby Boomers.

Spend a few weeks in Nigeria and then tell me how “tRapPeD” you feel by your Medicare Advantage plan, you entitled and unappreciative dopes.

 

[DonP]

30 yrs ago a family plan was $350 ish a month . Today 75% of Obamacare people would tell you to screwoff if you told them there premium was $350 . You should here the people when they lose there partial or full Medicaid and have to pay the $174.70 part b . There actually crying saying they won’t be able to pay there bills . We have a whole society that became addicted to free or cheap . $34 trillion of debt . Either we’re going to enter hyper inflation with a collapsing $ or that debt will be wiped out by cancelling it . The decades of free are coming back to haunt

 

[axeman462]

National Propaganda Radio? Really?


Next...

 

[sshafran]

Yawn.

 

[sshafran]

30 yrs ago a family plan was $350 ish a month . Today 75% of Obamacare people would tell you to screwoff if you told them there premium was $350 . You should here the people when they lose there partial or full Medicaid and have to pay the $174.70 part b . There actually crying saying they won’t be able to pay there bills . We have a whole society that became addicted to free or cheap . $34 trillion of debt . Either we’re going to enter hyper inflation with a collapsing $ or that debt will be wiped out by cancelling it . The decades of free are coming back to haunt

This is true.

Non-Medicare market, they can't pay $200/mo for insurance but they have the newest smartphone which is $54/mo financed over two years without thinking a second about it. Oh yeah, and their jr high kids have one also.

 

[AgentGeneral]

“NPR.” Forgive me while I collect myself and belly laugh on the floor for 5 minutes.

Okay, I’m better now. Yes, the “horrors” of $0 monthly premiums, absolutely no deductibles, and being able to get a million dollars worth of medical services for an average of $3,000/year, tops. THE HORROR!!!!!!

NPR won’t stop with their sensationalism and propaganda until everyone is sucked into their “utopian” ideal of “MedicAID-For-All.”

They say “MediCARE-For-All,” but the shitty system they describe is MedicAID. No different than Commie Obama and “if you LiKe YoUr DoCtOr you can keep yOuR dOcToR.” Yea, that was indeed a huge lie. Surprise, folks, the government lies constantly!

The fact of the matter is, these people hate anything that’s “for-profit,” while simultaneously not realizing that, by law, most of the profits MUST go towards Medicare beneficiaries.

I challenge them to name me anything that isn’t “for-profit.” Hell, even charities are for-profit. These tree-huggers, that are completely out of touch with reality, just hate insurance companies.

That’s what this is REALLY all about. So they sensationalize and exaggerate while leaving out key details and nuances.

“Mr. Johnson couldn’t get care when he needed surgery on those evil Medicare Advantage plans,” and as you dig into the details it turns out that Mr. Johnson’s inept doctor’s staff submitted the wrong code, which caused the delay.

It’s funny because, I have a lot of clients on Medicare Advantage (as well as supplements), and my Medicare Advantage clients never run into these “HORRORS!” that they speak of. So something just isn’t adding up.

People in this country have access to the most advanced first-world care that keeps them alive for INSANELY longer than average human expectancy, and what do they do? They still bitch.

This care is massively expensive. It’s not “free,” nor can it be. If I was them, I’d be appreciative that these plans even exist.

It’s just another symptom of a MASSIVE entitlement complex. Not surprisingly being led by massively entitled Baby Boomers.

Spend a few weeks in Nigeria and then tell me how “tRapPeD” you feel by your Medicare Advantage plan, you entitled and unappreciative dopes.

Exactly.

I've said it a few times in here and I mean what I say and say what I mean.

The complaints I get are 99% on the Rx PDP side. Sure medigap will fix that right.

And even those complaints are about more than I can stomach. One this week, lady mad over PA on her opioid script. Darn, she only got 46 in the first week, when it shouldve been 170ish for the month. Had to get a PA for the rest. Paragraphs of text informal complaints to me, misspelled veiled threats.....wants to immediately get back on her old plan....bc you know, on the old one there's no PA for her opioids (yah, ok?!). Im betting she might complain enough and hop around enough that she will end up on a red flag list in the system. I generally wont even meet with this group, but did it as a favor/referral and kicking myself now.

Whenever I look closely at the complaints and I always dig deep if need be, its not exactly cut and dried the carriers fault.

Another one recently, non PDP related. Lady ran out of psychiatric hospital days, and still the carrier covered above and beyond....oh I'm sure that's the MAPD fault too. Medigap would have fixed that too, I'm sure. For sure theyd pay 230 days in the psych hospital, right? Damn fools enrolling people in MAPD, just for the money, ummm.....

 

[somarco]

Referenced NPR article is a rehash from research done and published by KFF.

Similar data published by JAMA

I am not a fan of NPR but I have always found KFF to be accurate and on point. Same for JAMA.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but they are not entitled to their own facts.

 

[straightnochaser]

And the article presented ZERO "facts" to support their headline that "older Americans feel trapped by MAPD".
Literally ZERO.

The only "fact" offered to support their claim was that

"David Meyers, assistant professor of health services, policy and practice at the Brown University School of Public Health, analyzed a decade of Medicare Advantage enrollment and found that about 50% of beneficiaries — rural and urban — left their contract by the end of five years."

But guess what the next sentence says...

"Most of those enrollees switched to another Medicare Advantage plan rather than traditional Medicare."

The "article" is a pile of steaming propaganda.

SoMarco ignores everything that doesn't fit his agenda, then on top of that looks down on anyone that dares to go against him and points out facts.. He probably already has you on ignore.

 

[rmhaire]

Here's an interesting article that I saw in Newsweek today. I doubt you MAOs will like it that much. Pretty sure it will be fake news or scare tactics.

If you don't like it, I'd suggest you blame @somarco . You blame him for everything else.

MSN