A new report by Wendell Potter who used to work for
the private health insurance industry and the Center for Health and Democracy.
Finds that, private health companies are actually making a killing.
Really increasing their profits through public money that was
specifically allocated for public programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
How exactly is that happening?
Well, think about how private prisons are funded.
Private prisons are privately run, but they're publicly funded.
And that is what we are starting to see with the Medicare and Medicaid industry.
Let me explain, government programs like Medicare and
Medicaid are now the source of roughly 90 of the health plan
revenues from Humana, Centene, and Molina.
The seven top for profit insurance companies in the United States have
seen their combined revenues from taxpayer-backed programs soar
by 500% reaching $577 billion in 2022 alone compared to $116.3 billion in 2012.
So the other companies by the way include UnitedHealth, Cigna,
you've got CVS-Aetna and.
Now, what happens is the government engages in these
public private partnerships, which are terrible.
And what we're doing is we're having private health insurance
companies essentially handle or service Medicare and Medicaid.
The big insurers now manage most states's Medicaid programs and
make billions of dollars according to Wendell Potter, off these programs.
They make billions of dollars for shareholders doing so.
But most of the insurers have found that selling their privately operated Medicare
replacement plans is even more financially rewarding for their shareholders.
So guys, there's Medicare, which is the government program mostly for
elderly people, to ensure that they have health coverage in their later years.
And then there's Medicare advantage.
And Medicare advantage might trick you into thinking that it is the same as
Medicare.
Just, you're paying a little extra for more coverage.
That's the way that it's kind of marketed and sold to people.
Except, it is not Medicare, it is a privatized model.
And what these private health insurance companies are doing is as they
are managing Medicaid on a state level, their marketing and
selling Medicare advantage or the private plans to consumers.
And it is disastrous.
So, in addition to their focus on Medicare and Medicaid,
the companies also profit from generous subsidies the government pays insurers.
To reduce the premiums they charge individuals and
families who do not qualify for either Medicare or Medicaid.
Or who work for an employer that does not offer subsidized coverage.
So, Medicare advantage enrollment among the Big Seven health insurance
companies happened to increase 252% in just 10 years, between 2012 and 2022.
The Big Seven now control more than 70% of the Medicare advantage market.
So that's how they're making their money.
My question is,
why is the government having private insurers manage their Medicaid programs?
Why isn't the federal government doing something to stop the deceptive
marketing that's taking place in regard to Medicare advantage?
Now, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that, more than 28 million
people were enrolled in a privately-run Medicare advantage plan last year,
nearly half of the Medicare eligible population.
And one of the things that they do is it's privately run,
but it's publicly funded, right?
So what the private insurers do is they overcharge Medicare for
the services that their patients need to of course pad their pockets.
They're stealing money from the taxpayers.
And they also,
while they market that they provide better coverage than Medicare alone.
In reality, they deny coverage for
all sorts of treatments that people clearly need.
That's how they make their money.
It's privately run, of course, of course.
So this ruthless profiteering poses a threat to the stability of
Medicare's financing.
It along with Medicaid is funded through a payroll tax that is split between
an employer and an employee.
The surplus of which goes into the hospital insurance trust fund.
That fund is expected to run out in 2028, according to the New York Times.
Which makes a lot of sense because if you have privately run health
insurance companies ripping off the Medicare system by overcharging for
the services they provide for the patients.
Then yeah, we're gonna run out of money, obviously.
So shouldn't there be regulations in place to prevent it from happening?
Shouldn't there be better oversight?
Why is Wendell Potter the only person who seems to be raising alarm over this issue?
It's insane.
I mean, the redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top is pretty freaking
clear here, isn't it?
And again, there's the deceptive marketing,
there's the terrible coverage that's marketed as better coverage than Medicare.
And then there's the theft that takes place of the public money that
funds the Medicare system.
It's absolutely disgusting and it goes on all the time with no media attention.
With the exception of the American Prospect, Common Dreams,
TYT, because corporate media is not gonna cover this.
Corporate media provides cover for corporations,
including the private healthcare industry as they are ripping us off and
stealing our public funds to pad their pockets.
That's what's happening.