As the Biden administration continues to inexplicably roll out the Trump-era Medicare Direct Contracting program, PNHP members have been writing op-eds and letters to the editor demanding an end to this stealth privatization attempt. Members have also been appearing on television programs, radio shows, online video segments, and podcasts.
Interested in developing your own letter or op-ed? See our detailed suggestions on writing and submitting, or contact PNHP communications specialist Clare Fauke at clare@pnhp.org.
Television and radio segments
“Medicare is being privatized on Biden’s watch, insurance industry SALIVATES,” by Ryan Grim, Hill.TV, Rising, December 9, 2021
“Secret Trump Program To Privatize Medicare Needs to End,” interview with Dr. Susan Rogers, The Thom Hartmann Program, May 2, 2022
“Seniors’ Medicare Benefits are Being Privatized Without Consent,” The Lever, April 11, 2022
“The Stealth Plan to Corporatize Medicare,” interview with Dr. Ed Weisbart, The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow, March 11, 2022
“They’re Trying to Privatize Medicare!” interview with Diane Archer, The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow, January 19, 2022
“Direct Contracting Entities, Threat to our Healthcare,” interview with Drs. Claire Cohen and Marilyn Vaché, Thinking Green, January 11, 2022
“The Plot to Destroy Medicare,” interview with Dr. Ana Malinow, Thom Hartmann Program, December 13, 2021
“Is There a New Plot to Privatize Medicare Afoot?” interview with Dr. Ana Malinow, Thom Hartmann Program, September 20, 2021
“A Banker in the Exam Room? The Growing Resistance to Medicare Privatization,” interview with Dr. Ed Weisbart, Code Wack Podcast, March 28, 2022
“The end of traditional Medicare as we know it?” interview with Dr. Ed Weisbart, Retirement Revised Podcast, February 28, 2022
“Wall Street’s Latest Attack on Traditional Medicare,” interview with Dr. Ed Weisbart, Code Wack Podcast, October 18, 2021, (part one of this two-part podcast, which covers Medicare Advantage, available HERE)
“The Plot to Take Away Your Medicare, Unveiled!” interview with Dr. Ana Malinow, KSQD Community Radio, Be Bold America!, May 22, 2022
“In the Know: Medicare Direct Contracting,” interview with Dr. Ed Weisbart, KTRS The Big 550 AM, February 28, 2022
“The Corporate Assault on Medicare,” interview with Kip Sullivan, Ralph Nader Radio Hour, January 15, 2022
“The multiple dangers of Direct Contracting Entities,” interview with Kay Tillow, KPFA Radio, Flashpoints, December 2, 2021
“Medicare Direct Contracting call-in,” interview with Dr. Ana Malinow, Redwood Community Radio, KMUD, October 1, 2021
Dr. Susan Rogers op-ed with Rep. Pramila Jayapal
“The biggest threat to Medicare you’ve never even heard of,” by Dr. Susan Rogers and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, The Hill, December 9, 2021
PNHP president Dr. Susan Rogers co-authored a piece with H.R. 1976 (Medicare for All) lead sponsor Rep. Pramila Jayapal describing the dangers of Medicare Direct Contracting, and the urgent need to end the program.
“As a physician and a member of Congress, we’ve never heard a senior ask for their health care to be more complicated, or to have their choice of Traditional Medicare taken away,” they wrote. “But that’s exactly what Direct Contracting would do. Traditional Medicare has proven its value for more than half a century. Instead of selling it off to the highest bidder, let’s strengthen and improve its benefits while working to expand it to cover every American.”
PNHP member op-eds and letters to the editor
- “Privatizing Medicare is the wrong way to go,” by Dr. Joshua Freeman, Arizona Daily Star, March 2, 2023
- “Terminate REACH,” by Dr. George Bohmfalk, Aspen (Colo.) Daily News, October 12, 2022
- “Medicare Dis-Advantage: Shortchanging the Patients While Enriching the Insurer,” by Dr. Leonard Rodberg, Common Dreams, August 30, 2022
- “The Stealth Plan to Privatize Medicare for All,” by Dr. Rick Staggenborg, Counter Punch, August 24, 2022
- “Will Medicare make it to 65?,” by Dr. Ahmed Kutty, The Concord (N.H.) Monitor, August 2, 2022
- “Medicare is in Danger, and Few are Watching,” by Thomas Lane, The Dartmouth, July 1, 2022
- “Congress must stop the pillaging of traditional Medicare,” by Dr. Leonardo Alonso, The Florida Times-Union, May 20, 2022
- “Why Seniors Like Me Are Fighting Against Medicare Direct Contracting and ACO REACH,” by Rick Timmins, Common Dreams, May 19, 2022
- “Threat to Medicare from Direct Contracting Entities/REACH,” by Drs. Stephen Kemble and Philip Verhoef, May 2, 2022
- “Words of caution for Medicare beneficiaries,” by Dr. Robert Kiefner, New Hampshire Union Leader, April 25, 2022
- “Medicare under attack,” by Lauri Hoagland and Ivend Holen, The (Medford, Ore.) Mail Tribune, April 24, 2022
- “Medical privatization,” by Charles M. Casper, Louisville Courier-Journal, March 20, 2022
- “Medicare wolves are at the door,” by Dr. Ahmed Kutty, The Keene (N.H.) Sentinel, March 16, 2022
- “Protect Medicare: Fight plan to code high, treat low,” by Jan Phillips, The Durango (Colo.) Herald, March 16, 2022
- “Is Medicare a Public Good or a Market Commodity?” by Corinne Frugoni and Patty Harvey, North Coast Journal of Politics, People & Art, March 3, 2022
- “A threat to our Medicare system,” by Charles Gutfeld, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest (Ill.), February 22, 2022
- “Medicare for All or Medicare At All?” by Jack Carney, Adirondack Almanack, February 17, 2022
- “Biden’s costly failure to stop Medicare privatization experiment in Ohio,” by Maximilian Brockwell and James Tyler Moore, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 16, 2022
- “How Medicare is quietly being privatized,” by Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Detroit Metro Times, February 9, 2022
- “A New Medicare Program Threatens Seniors. We Can Stop It.” by Paul Cooper, The River (Hudson Valley, N.Y.), February 9, 2022
- “Speak out to stop hijacking of Medicare,” by Dr. Joan MacEachen, The Durango (Colo.) Herald, February 7, 2022
- “Mother of Mercy! Is This the End of Medicare?” by Dr. Alec Pruchnicki, WestView News (Manhattan, N.Y.), February 5, 2022
- “There goes your Medicare: The trouble with DCEs,” by Elisabeth Marshall, Cascadia Daily News (Bellingham, Wash.), February 3, 2022
- “Is the Government Stealthily Privatizing Medicare without Telling You?,” by F. Douglas Stephenson, Informed Comment, January 31, 2022
- “Trump-era Medicare plan a corporate giveaway,” by Dr. Gregory L. Schmidt, The Cap Times (Madison, Wisc.), January 27, 2022
- “Managed care proponents fail to justify so-called payment ‘reform’,” by Kip Sullivan, Health Affairs, Comment, January 24, 2022
- “The right to choose health care,” by Judith Esterquest and Barbara Estrin, The Riverdale Press (Bronx, N.Y.), January 23, 2022
- “What is a Direct Contracting Entity?” by Pat Kanzler, (Eureka, Calif.) Times-Standard, January 21, 2022
- “The latest assault on Medicare,” by Dr. Robert Devereaux, Roanoke (Va.) Times, January 18, 2022
- “Heads up – another threat to Medicare!” by Ron Forthofer, The Times Call (Boulder, Colo.), January 18, 2022
- “Be wary of Medicare Advantage and Direct Contracting Entities,” by Dr. H. Dixon Turner, Portsmouth (N.H.) Herald, January 17, 2022
- “Medicare: No one is stopping Trump’s scheme to privatize it,” by Bruce Robinson, Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera, January 13, 2022
- “Hands off my Medicare,” by Dr. Kathleen Healey, Napa Valley Register, January 10, 2022
- “Medicare privatization,” by Mark McKinley, Louisville Courier-Journal, January 9, 2022
- “Cancel Direct Contracting Entity,” by Dr. Rick Staggenborg, Albany (Ore.) Democrat-Herald, January 5, 2022
- “It’s time for you to care about Medicare,” by Dr. George Bohmfalk, The Aspen (Colo.) Times, January 2, 2022
- “Stealthy effort to privatize Medicare should alarm all Americans,” by Dr. George Bohmfalk, The Pulse Blog, NC Policy Watch, December 30, 2021
- “Protect Medicare from greed, ignorance,” by Alyce V. Werkema, Lynden (Wash.) Tribune, December 29, 2021
- “End Medicare Direct Contract Program,” by Paul Cooper, Daily Freeman (Kingston, N.Y.), December 29, 2021
- “Stop Wall Street from Grabbing Traditional Medicare,” by F. Douglas Stephenson, The Smirking Chimp, December 24, 2021
- “Proposed Medicare changes are unhealthy for consumers,” by Dr. Jonathan D. Walker, The (Fort Wayne, Ind.) Journal Gazette, December 23, 2021
- “Health Care Delivery at a Crossroads,” by Dr. Marc H Lavietes, The Spirit (N.Y.), December 13, 2021
- “Draining Medicare,” by Dr. Wayne Hale, Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record, December 13, 2021
- “An Obscure Agency Is Threatening to Hand Medicare Over to Wall Street,” by Dr. Ana Malinow, Truthout, December 3, 2021
- “Stop the corporate Medicare money-grab,” by Dr. Emily Kane, Senior Voice Alaska, December 1, 2021
- “Willie Sutton and the brave new world of Medicare privatization,” by Dr. Marvin Malek, VTDigger, November 30, 2021
- “Medicare and Social Security have been successful,” by David Ross Stevens, News and Tribune (Jeffersonville, Ind.), November 24, 2021
- “Medicare is on the menu,” by Dr. Robert S. Kiefner, Concord (N.H.) Monitor, November 12, 2021
- “A successful Medicare should never be privatized,” by Dr. Elizabeth Rosenthal, The Riverdale Press (Bronx, N.Y.), October 31, 2021
Direct Contracting Entities in the news
- “Protest demands Biden administration terminate Medicare privatization scheme,” by Tim Wheeler, People’s World, August 4, 2022
- “Amazon Joins The Medicare Privatization Spree,” by Matthew Cunningham-Cook, The Lever, July 22, 2022
- “Machinists’ Retirees 751 Resolve to End ACO REACH & the Privatizing of Medicare,” by Kay Tillow, Daily Kos, June 19, 2022
- “‘Medicare Advantage on Steroids’: Advocates Push Back on ACO REACH Model,” by Andrew Donlan, Home Health Care News, May 23, 2022
- “Doctors, Lawmakers See Danger in Moving Medicare Toward Privatization,” by Ginger Szala, Think Advisor, April 29, 2022
- “Big Changes May Be Coming to Traditional Medicare,” by Mark Miller, Morningstar, April 22, 2022
- “How Medicare is Being Slowly and Quietly Put to Death,” by Lee Russ, The Progressive, March 28, 2022
- “Seniors’ Medicare Benefits Are Being Privatized Without Consent,” by Matthew Cunningham-Cook, The Lever, March 24, 2022
- “As Biden Continues Privatization Ploy, Sanders Vows to Reintroduce Medicare for All,” by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, March 21, 2022
- “House progressives push for CMS to end newly rebranded ACO REACH model,” by Robert King, Fierce Healthcare, March 17, 2022
- “‘Can’t Fool Us’: 250+ Groups Reject Biden Rebrand of Trump’s Medicare Privatization Ploy,” by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, March 8, 2022
- “PNHP, Community Groups Push HHS To Scrap ACO REACH Model,” by Michelle M. Stein, Inside Health Policy, March 8, 2022
- “Cigna amps up Direct Contracting participation after program revamp,” by Nona Tepper, Modern Healthcare, March 2, 2022
- “Progressives Press for More Changes to Medicare Payment Program,” by Alex Ruoff, Bloomberg Law, March 1, 2022
- “The Biden administration just overhauled a controversial new Medicare program. The changes could drive even more revenue to healthcare upstarts.” by Shelby Livingston, Business Insider, February 28, 2022
- “Under Pressure, the Biden Administration Rebrands Its Medicare Privatization Initiative,” by Branko Marcetic, Jacobin, February 27, 2022
- “‘Band-Aid on a Tumor’: Critics Blast Biden Rebrand of Trump’s Medicare Privatization Scheme,” by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, February 25, 2022
- “Trump-Era Medicare Pilot Program to Get Reboot From Biden HHS,” by Tony Pugh, Alex Ruoff, and John Tozzi, Bloomberg Law, February 24, 2022
- “Curbs on Insurers, Private Equity Sought for Medicare Pay Plan,” by Tony Pugh, Bloomberg Law, February 22, 2022
- “Medicare’s Controversial Direct Contracting Program Hits Biden Administration’s Radar,” Elder Law Answers, February 18, 2022
- “Progressives are up in arms over a Medicare experiment,” by Rachel Roubein, Washington Post, February 17, 2022
- “Joe Biden Is Quietly Pursuing the Creeping Privatization of Medicare,” by Branko Marcetic, Jacobin, February 16, 2022
- “Biden administration weighs changes to Trump-era Medicare policy,” by Rachael Levy and Adam Cancryn, POLITICO, February 16, 2022
- “Physicians Slam Industry Push to ‘Fix’—Not End—Medicare Privatization Scheme,” by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, February 16, 2022
- “Warren calls for end to Direct Contracting, reforms to Medicare Advantage risk adjustment,” by Robert King, Fierce Healthcare, February 3, 2022
- “Senators Mull Ways to Cut Costs in Medicare,” by Joyce Frieden, MedPage Today, February 3, 2022
- “Warren Warns ‘Corporate Vultures’ Are Circling Medicare on Biden’s Watch,” by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, February 3, 2022
- “Trump Created A Program To Privatize Medicare Without Patients’ Consent. Biden Is Keeping It Going.” by Paul McLeod, BuzzFeed News, January 28, 2022
- “The Dark History of Medicare Privatization,” by Barbara Caress, The American Prospect, January 24, 2022
- “Over 50 Lawmakers Urge Administration to End Direct Contracting,” by Sarai Rodriguez, RevCycle Intelligence, January 17, 2022
- “Elizabeth Fowler Defending Trump Program to Privatize Medicare,” Corporate Crime Reporter, January 16, 2022
- “A quiet experiment is testing broader privatization of U.S. Medicare,” by Mark Miller, Reuters, January 14, 2022
- “Future of Trump-Era Medicare Program Spurs Fight Among Democrats,” by Alex Ruoff, Bloomberg Government, January 14, 2022
- “Jayapal Leads 50+ Democrats in Urging Biden to End Trump-Era Assault on Medicare,” by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, January 5, 2022
- “Medicare Direct Contracting Demo Garners Critics and Defenders,” by Joyce Frieden, MedPage Today, January 4, 2022
- “Pressure Grows on Biden to Shut Down Trump-Era Medicare Privatization Scheme,” by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, December 30, 2021
- “Medicare Privatization Scheme Faced Legal Questions About Profiteering,” by Ryan Grim and Austin Ahlman, The Intercept, December 14, 2021
- “Trump had a scheme to privatize Medicare. The Biden administration isn’t stopping it.” by Helaine Olen, Washington Post, December 13, 2021
- “Advocates Sound Alarm About Pilot Program They Say Could Privatize All of Medicare,” Elder Law Answers, December 10, 2021
- “Docs Come to D.C. to Protest Medicare’s Direct Contracting Program,” by Joyce Frieden, MedPage Today, December 1, 2021
- “Congress ‘Asleep at the Switch’ as Biden Continues Trump-Era Ploy to Privatize Medicare,” by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, November 30, 2021
- “Physicians petition to end federal direct contracting,” by Nick Moran, Becker’s Hospital Review, November 19, 2021
- “Biden moves forward with Trump Medicare privatization plan,” by Chris Tomlinson, Houston Chronicle, November 8, 2021
- “Direct Contracting Entities: The Latest Scam to Privatize Medicare,” by Lambert Strether, Naked Capitalism, September 27, 2021
- “This latest under-the-radar program could push Medicare deeper into private hands,” by Trudy Lieberman, Center for Health Journalism, March 11, 2021
- “Trump administration attempts to privatize traditional Medicare,” by Diane Archer, JustCare USA, December 17, 2020
