Healthcare Reform – It’s Need – NOW!
Problems with Medicare Advantage Plans Keep Mounting
Citing bureaucratic delays and difficulty collecting payments, dozens of health systems around the country are refusing contracts with particular Medicare Advantage plans or with any MA plans at all.
A survey of health systems by the Health Care Management Association revealed that 19% had stopped accepting one or more Medicare Advantage plans in 2023. And 61% reported that they were either considering or planning to stop accepting all Medicare Advantage patients within the next two years.
The problem is nationwide, but more acute in some areas… (Continue to full article)
UnitedHealth Units Ordered to Pay $165M for Misleading Consumers
Three UnitedHealth-owned insurance companies must pay more than $165 million for deceptive conduct that misled thousands of consumers into unknowingly buying supplemental health insurance in Massachusetts.
In a December order, Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Helene Kazanjian said penalties stem from marketing practices between 2012 and 2016 by HealthMarkets and its two subsidiaries, The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company and HealthMarkets Insurance Agency, which were found to violate the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act.
The ruling follows a non-jury trial to assess damages after the companies were already deemed liable… (Continue to full article)
Watch Out for the ‘Medigap Trap’
A bit of foresight can save you from the Medigap trap — yet one more rule to learn when navigating Medicare and Medicare Advantage (MA). In short, it’s a mistake to plan to enroll in MA when you’re relatively healthy, thinking you can just switch to traditional Medicare as you get older and sicker, says David A. Lipschutz , co-director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy.
MA can be attractive when first enrolling in Medicare for beneficiaries who aren’t worried about network restrictions on doctors or pre-approval requirements for high-level care.
Technically, people who choose an MA plan can change their minds every year during open enrollment and move to traditional government-run Medicare with its unrestricted access to providers who take Medicare. It may be tempting to think about switching when health declines or there’s a need to see providers not in the MA network. But it’s not that easy. Welcome to the Medigap Trap… (Continue to full article)