Go Back   GameTavern > House Specials > Happy Hour
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes

Freedom of Speech?
Old 09-23-2009, 09:02 AM   #1
Professor S
Devourer of Worlds
 
Professor S's Avatar
 
Professor S is offline
Location: Mount Penn, PA
Now Playing: Team Fortress 2, all day everyday
Posts: 6,608
Default Freedom of Speech?

Quote:
When Humana, one of the biggest private insurers offering plusher Medicare plans to seniors, warned some customers a health overhaul could eliminate benefits they like, the feds told the company to knock it off.

At issue is a mailing sent by Humana to some patients enrolled in its Medicare Advantage plans. Those are the private options that replace standard Medicare for about one in five beneficiaries who chose the option. (The Huffington Post got a copy of a Humana mailing you can read here.)

Medicare Advantage costs the government more and is a prime target for cuts by Democrats as part of a health overhaul. Analysts say the plans, on average, get paid about 14 percent more than it costs to provide benefits to patients.

The Humana mailing said if private plans get paid less, "millions of seniors and disabled individuals...could lose many of the important benefits and services that make Medicare Advantage health plans so valuable."

Under current law, private Medicare plans are required to use at least some of the additional money they get above the costs of a minimum, guaranteed package of benefits to provide extras. So, many Medicare Advantage patients get things like eye care, foot care and hearing aids, which the standard program doesn't offer.

Bye-bye extra money? Bye-bye extra benefits. So Humana does seem to have a point.The company agreed to stop the mailings, though.


So, as often as Democrats, President Obama included, say that an overhaul won't crimp the insurance that people like, there's no denying that folks enrolled in Medicare Advantage would see reductions under the proposals getting traction.

Medicare officials were not amused, however. At the behest of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services fired off a letter to Humana ordering it to cease and desist with the mailings. For good measure, CMS told other companies not try anything like it either.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009...care_adva.html
__________________
  Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Forum Jump



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:52 AM.


vBulletin skin developed by: eXtremepixels
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
GameTavern