DON'T MISS: Rep. Schakowsky (D-IL) and I exposed Medicare Advantage in Newsweek
In addition to publishing analysis pieces and commentaries here, I also co-author op-eds with other folks from time to time and do a fair number of media interviews. It occurred to me that you might find some of those of interest and also know a little bit about the behind-the-scenes work my team and I do to advance healthcare reform.
Over the past few months, I have done a series of 1-1 briefings with members of Congress and their legislative assistants. To date, I’ve talked with at least 50 members and staff on both sides of Capitol Hill and both sides of the political aisle. I’ll write more about that in the future. Our chats have covered a lot of ground and include what can and must be done to address profiteering by big insurance companies and their PBMs, the urgency of lowering if not eliminating the ever-growing out-of-pocket obligations most Americans with insurance are now burdened with, and the need to fix the Medicare Advantage program and improve traditional Medicare.
Today, I’d like to share the op-ed I wrote with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) about how insurers have rigged the Medicare Advantage program to benefit shareholders and how they withhold important information about the differences between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Newsweek published the op-ed this week. Here’s a link. And here is a link to my Twitter thread on this op-ed. I’d love to know what you think.
The "upcoding" is extremely common. Seen it MANY times myself with private-paid (cash) "health care". You have to check EVERY line item and if they won't provide it - don't pay a penny. Then, when you obtain the detail records, you have to fact-check EVERYTHING. The entire system is deeply corrupt, scamming virtually EVERYONE if you don't already know this. For the past several decades I've paid for my own medical, 100% out of pocket. I've had several major surgeries and lasting issues that require visits to doctors, hospitals and specialists. WATCH OUT. Billing office deliberately pad your billings, pretend they didn't receive payment, add "services" you never got, even doctors are in on these schemes, requiring unnecessary appointments, services, treatments and more. The entire medical-industry is corrupt to the core, this isn't about health care or treatment for disease, it's about making as much money as humanely possible with YOUR suffering, pain, need and financial stress the "product". I've found countless errors, "mistakes", frauds, claims and worse, misdiagnosis and wrong opinions that would have left me far worse off had I accepted their so-called "medical advice". You have to be your own advocate and do a lot of research and make sure you avoid the frauds, fakes and profiteers that have polluted so much of this scam-based "industry". Keep a tight hand over your wallet too - the astronomical costs that patients are being charged are utterly insane and designed to enrich the industry which has already transferred most of the wealth of Americans into their pockets.
Americans should revolt. The deeper I did into "health care" and the scams that this misnomer contains, the angrier I get. The entire apparatus is designed to bankrupt Americans and transfer wealth to "insurers" and the medical-profit industry. Health care in the United States is a complete joke, nothing like other countries and people here just keep taking it up the you-know-what. Frankly, I've decided I'd rather be dead then pretend I have "health care". Premiums, co-pay, restrictions, networks, mountains of paper work - fuck it, not interested. This isn't health care - it's EXTORTION.