A generation of people will not know the true benefits of Medicare and its purpose, but are being fooled into believing that they are getting more for their dollar by paying additional for medical coverage that is ultimately freely earned. Medicare was introduced as a medical benefits program for retired workers who paid into it all their working lives.
“On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law legislation that established the Medicare and Medicaid programs. For 50 years, these programs have been protecting the health and well-being of millions of American families, saving lives, and improving the economic security of our nation.” More important, the program is funded and supported by the money of working people.”
It is a humanitarian program and safety-net in place to look out for people when they get older, making sure they were covered and treated for illnesses that come with age. But that has changed in the current culture of greedy capitalist CEOs who are only out for profit and having no concern for the well-being of an aging population.
The Medicare system has eroded over the last 20 years since private investors created a medical option alongside Medicare called Medicare Advantage Plans, (using a play on words), giving the illusion that the additional coverage took care of things that the original Medicare did not. This was true to some extent, but over the years became more of the baseline for what was covered and what was not.
With shady television commercials using popular celebrity faces, shown during the times that seniors are at home, the Medicare Advantage Plan charade took advantage of those people by telling them it was all a part of the original program and they were missing out on extra coverage.
Now, “some 31 million Americans have Medicare Advantage plans, private-sector alternatives to Medicare introduced in 2003 by Congress to encourage greater efficiency in health care. Just over half of Americans on Medicare are enrolled in one of the plans offered by large insurance companies, including UnitedHealthcare and Humana.
Problems are emerging with the plans, however. Last year, a federal audit from 2013 was released showing that 8 of the 10 largest plans had submitted inflated bills to Medicare. As for the quality of care, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, a non-partisan agency of Congress, said in a March report that it could not conclude Medicare Advantage plans “systematically provide better quality” over regular Medicare.
Even worse, because the plans routinely deny coverage for necessary care, they are threatening the existence of struggling rural hospitals nationwide, CEOs of facilities in six states told NBC News. While the number of older Americans who rely on Medicare Advantage in rural areas continues to rise, these denials force the hospitals to eat the increasing costs of care, causing some to close operations and leave residents without access to treatment.”
The plans are so deceiving and backed by so many wealthy donors, that they are now intruding into Veterans health care system, the VA, and scamming them out of money and providing less services.
“Soaring costs and a significant decline in accessibility, especially for veterans in rural areas, are part of private care’s vast dangers. The existing private, for-profit community care program has already led to fragmentation of care, causing challenges in securing medical records from private providers and leading to redundant tests, which results in a waste of money and resources.
Privatization erodes the VA’s ability to maintain control over the quality of care veterans receive, as community care providers lack the specialized expertise that VA providers possess in meeting our veterans’ unique needs.
Numerous studies have consistently underscored the superiority of VA care for veterans compared to private facilities. Veterans not only express a clear preference for the VA, with nearly 90 percent trusting the care they receive, but VA facilities have also demonstrated a marked increase in veterans’ survival rates.”
In order for the nation’s elderly to live a healthy and decent life after retirement, the people must stand together against corporate exploitation and demand that Congress take steps to regulate the private health care industry more closely. It is ok for for-profit companies to offer healthcare to the country, but to infiltrate one of the oldest and most reliable systems in the country is going too far and costing workers more in money and health.
In the fight for basic healthcare for all, recent legislation by “Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced the State-Based Universal Health Care Act, which would create a waiver to allow states to develop their own plans to provide access to health care for all their residents.”
Please pass on to the next voting generation to reject private intrusion into a safety-net program that helps people rather than exploit their older years. Healthcare in a human right and should not only benefit those who can afford it. It is cruel to decide a person’s right to health based on whether they can pay or not.
DISCLAIMER: The content of Pro Liberation is firmly opinionated and is not meant to be interpreted as official news. We glean facts and quotes from mainstream news websites and abridge its meaning for readers to relate. We do not indulge in misinformation, conspiracy theories, or false doctrine but choose to express our right to free speech as citizens of this country and free born under God the Creator. We represent Nu Life Alliance Inc. a non-profit organization in the battle for social and economic justice. Donate to our cause at the following link. DONATE
