Tag: medicare

The Medicare advantage plans meant to curb Medicare spending is actually costing us more.

Posted on by bill
The Medicare Advantage plans meant to curb Medicare spending is actually costing us more. I have warned patients for years about Medicare Advantage plans which are private insurers taking your Medicare coverage and privatizing it. Promoted as wildly popular due to the heavy marketing and bait-and-switch tactics boiler rooms are using to switch patients to these plans before they even sign up for Medicare. Talking to their experts who are commissioned salespeople results in your signing up for an inferior plan that often gives participants a free gym membership for members. Traditional Medicare offers a low deductible and coverage in Read More »

Drug overdose deaths in the last 20 years have quadrupled; isn’t it time to rethink the healthcare pill economy?

Posted on by bill
Drug overdose deaths in the last 20 years have quadrupled; isn’t it time to rethink the healthcare pill economy? When we hear about the increase in overdose deaths in the USA, most of us think of Fentanyl, Opioids Heroin, or Meth.  These data showed that 57 percent involved an opioid, 39 percent a stimulant, and 18 percent both. Of unintentional overdoses, 74 percent stemmed from illicit drugs, such as fentanyl, heroin, cocaine or methamphetamines. But 68 percent of intentional overdoses involved prescription drugs, such as antidepressants, antiepileptics, benzodiazepines, sedative-hypnotics, and opioids. Drugs, Drugs, and More Drugs. Drugs in American Healthcare Read More »

Private insurers have exploited Medicare for millions while applying roadblocks to needed care.

Posted on by bill
Private insurers have exploited Medicare for millions while applying roadblocks to needed care. Over the years I have warned patients about private insurers and the push to have everyone use a Medicare Advantage (part C) plan.  These plans offer the same hassles and pitfalls that you had prior to joining Medicare, with delays, recertification requirements, smaller networks, and no out-of-network coverage but you get a free gym membership. While the deals sound enticing with the barrage of mail you receive, the truth is that Medicare parts A and B with a Medicare supplement are far superior coverage-wise than any Advantage Read More »

If Medicare is allowed to set drug prices, the world could end and other fairy tales.

Posted on by bill
If Medicare is allowed to set drug prices, the world could end and other fairy tales. The lobbying group PhRMA is warning of dire consequences if Medicare can negotiate drug prices according to Medpage Today, a popular website read by doctors and others involved in health care and health care decision making. The USA has the highest drug prices in the world partly due to Medicare’s policy of not negotiating drug prices.  The Medicare drug plan does not allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices at all.   Conversely, the VA system does and they pay much lower prices than Medicare. Instead Read More »

Is socialized medicine scary? Ask a European. This article is a must-read.

Posted on by bill
Is socialized medicine scary? Ask a European. This article is a must-read. I came across a brilliant article that takes on the insurance industry’s scare tactics regarding insurance companies.  The article titled “The only thing health insurance companies are good at is scaring us about socialized medicine” takes on the industry and shows how they are using scare tactics to sway public opinion away from a more social system of coverage. Socialized medicine keeps costs in check while helping to reduce care that is not medically necessary according to science, rather than an insurer’s interpretation of science. If you ask Read More »