Why is the AARP welcoming the privatization of Medicare?

[ClaudetteB130970]

Why is the AARP welcoming the privatization of Medicare? I thought more members and people in general should know the AARP earns as much as $814 million annually from insurers advertising the plans. The safety net so many rely on for dignity and basic care is being gutted and AARP is happily joining right in as far as I can tell. With this kind of 'advocacy' there won't be any Medicaid left by the time I retire, let alone the gaps I am soon going to have to help my parents navigate. Shame on you, AARP.

[JonRet]

Medicare has always been a blend of public-private health care features, and the core issue remains finding a balance of benefits provided at affordable overall costs.  Interestingly, to help cut unacceptably long wait times for patients Canada has been allowing more private care delivery within its health system.

https://nowtoronto.com/news/ford-says-surgical-waitlists-will-mirror-pre-pandemic-levels-by-march-un... 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/canada-pursues-private-options-to-ease-healthcare-backlogs-11674316841

[GailL1]

@ClaudetteB130970 

Already discussed on this board back in November 2022 - gave more info in that discussion which may help you to understand this policy in Medicare better.

Here is the link to the November 2022 discussion:

AARP Medicare and Insurance Community Board 11/30/2022 - AARP ADVOCATING FOR MEDICARE PRIVATIZATION?

@ClaudetteB130970 said

.. . . With this kind of 'advocacy' there won't be any Medicaid left by the time I retire, let alone the gaps I am soon going to have to help my parents navigate. 

==============================

BTW - It is MEDICARE not MEDICAID and from your comments, you do have a lot to learn about the Medicare system before enrollment and making the choices you have to make inside the system. 

[MattC334230]

Except no one can learn anything about any of the healthcare system regardless if it's medicaid or medicare, the entire system is one giant mess that has to have a few basic things corrected before it's actually usable. Right now it's not usable in the condition it's in.

[nb5633]

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD MEDICARE BE PRIVATIZED

[jp2306867]

AARP continues to be silent on their support of Medicare Advantage and REACH plans because of the money they make with their arrangement with United Healthcare. They cannot be seen as true advocates for seniors so long as this relationship keeps them from fighting against privatization. The advocates for Medicare Advantage plans ignore the fact that it is the insurance companies who profit by overcharging and denying care. It is seniors who suffer. Any senior on a MA plan who is happy with it, they can and should be able to stay on it. But those of us in traditional Medicare do not want to lose our government provided, not for profit coverage. Our choice matters too. Insurance companies and their advocates want to take that choice from us. They see us as an untapped market and they want in.

[Tonster521]

@jp2306867 As you may not know, Traditional Medicare also uses "for profit" Medicare Administrative Contractors (MAC). Some of the MACs are insurance companies, subsidiaries, and/or spin offs. MACs are the organizations that pay the claims in addition to other support services. I do not know of any MACs that work for free. If you think of the government like an employer that provides health insurance benefits, such benefits may be self funded, insured, and/or a combination of self funded and insured. The latter is the approach that the government is using with Medicare. FYI, the Managed Care approach was extremely successful in the private sector circa 1990s. The government noticed the savings in the private sector and enacted the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) in 1997. The BBA created Medicare Choice which at that time was mostly HMOs. In 2003, Medicare Choice was renamed Medicare Advantage by the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA). So, Medicare Advantage (MA) has been around for 25 years. It is essentially a Managed Care approach that is outsourced to insurance companies that have a proven record. If you were waiting for the government to create a managed care plan for Medicare, we would be waiting a long time because it is difficult to accomplish. So, one of the advantages of MA is a cap on your out of pocket expenses (i.e., a stop loss) should you have a medical episode that creates catastrophic medical expenses. Folks can transfer that risk to a MA Plan or an insurance company. With Traditional Medicare you are self insuring that risk or buying a Medigap Insurance Policy from a "for profit" insurance company. Currently, using Traditional Medicare with a Medigaop insurance policy will be more expensive.  

[Tonster521]

For the folks who are not aware of Medicare Administrative Contractors (MAC), here is some info https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Contracting/Medicare-Administrative-Contractors/What-is-a-MAC#....

[ClaudetteB130970]

https://jacobin.com/2022/11/aarp-medicare-advantage-privatization-health-care-seniors 

[john258]

Bad support article. It is not true.