Cost-Related Problems Are Less Common Among Beneficiaries in Traditional Medicare Than in Medicare Advantage, Mainly Due to Supplemental Coverage, Kaiser Family Foundation, June 25, 2021, by Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek et al.
These cost-related problems are: the prevalence over one year of trouble getting health care due to cost, or problems with / non-payment of medical bills. Detailed wording here. And…
Costs in Medicare Advantage present barrier to care, JustCare, July 8, 2021, by Diane Archer
The Kaiser Family Foundation has a new report that underscores the likelihood of significant access to care issues in Medicare Advantage for people with modest incomes and people in fair or poor health.
Comment:
By Jim Kahn, M.D., M.P.H.
These findings from KFF, based on a national survey, are startling. They call out brightly the hazards of relying on private insurers to protect enrollees in our huge publicly financed Medicare program for the elderly and disabled.
The lesson is: If you’re at risk of fair or poor health, don’t choose Medicare Advantage. Especially if you’re Black.
Private insurance is not the way to deliver publicly funded services. Not if our goal is to provide affordable medical care for the sick.
There’s a second take-away: With financial problems for enrollees even in traditional Medicare (especially those with no Medigap coverage), we need to place a cap on individual annual out-of-pocket spending. That critical Medicare improvement should rank high on the Congressional agenda.
We need a government fund to directly compensate providers. No private intermediaries siphoning off profits and shifting costs to enrollees. And no cost-sharing. Single payer.
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