Senator Elizabeth Warren just released a damning report on Medicare Advantage — the private insurance option within Medicare. Sen. Warren revealed that big insurance companies are offering insurance brokers cash bonuses and lavish vacations in exchange for selling plans sold by specific companies.1
This is corporate greed getting in the way of patient health and well-being. And it comes after a recent New York Times report that found 9 of the top 10 private insurance companies offering Medicare Advantage plans have overbilled Medicare by between $12 and $25 billion, siphoning money away from patients.2 In order to protect Medicare, we must get private insurance companies OUT of Medicare.
Sign our petition: Congress must pass legislation to ban private insurance companies from administering Medicare!
The New York Times report uncovered that private insurers are draining resources from Medicare and threatening one of our greatest public health insurance programs. 6 of the top 10 private insurers who administer Medicare Advantage plans have been accused of Medicare fraud by the U.S. government and whistleblowers.3 It’s so bad, many health care experts are urging people against choosing Advantage plans.4
Senator Warren’s report exposes an incentive program that has no place in the process of helping seniors choose health care. It’s no wonder there’s these sorts of lavish bonuses in Medicare Advantage—where overbilling is coming ahead of patient care.
Congress created Medicare Advantage 20 years ago to create a private alternative to traditional Medicare in order to provide better care at lower costs.5 Instead, costs have gone up and private insurance companies have pulled in billions from Medicare.
The corporate greed is disgusting. According to The New York Times, giant private insurers, “have developed elaborate systems to make their patients appear as sick as possible, often without providing additional treatment” so the insurers could charge those patients more for their Medicare plans.6
The American people want strong, reliable health care. So why are private insurers allowed to continue overbilling in Medicare Advantage, costing patients, the government, and taxpayers?
Private insurance companies are wasting taxpayer dollars, threatening the integrity of Medicare, and putting patients’ health at risk. We can’t let big corporations continue to suck away money from Medicare.
Sign our petition to protect Medicare and demand an end to private insurers interference in Medicare.