As President Joe Biden sought to eliminate the popular entitlement, progressive Democrats introduced legislation to block Medicare Advantage.
Biden has suggested ways to lower Medicare Advantage (or Medicare Part C), which is a private–public partnership, in which Medicare pays private sector health insurances a fixed amount.
The Save Medicare Act was introduced by progressive Reps. Mark Pocan and Ro Khanna (D-CA), respectively. It would replace Medicare Advantage plans with a new name and bar private insurances from using it. “Medicare”Advertisements or in plant titles, and impose heavy penalties if they break the prohibitions.
Pocan stated in a statement, Medicare Advantage is threatening traditional Medicare. However, Medicare Advantage is increasingly preferred by seniors over Medicare.
Medicare alone is Medicare. This is the most important and popular service the government offers.These non-Medicare policies run by private insurance companies undermine traditional Medicare.Patients are often left without the necessary benefits while corporations overcharge the federal government. This bill eliminates any confusion about what is – and what is not – Medicare, and ensures this essential program will continue to serve seniors and other Americans for years to come. [Emphasis added]
Three lawmakers made a TV commercial outlining why traditional Medicare is better than Medicare Advantage.
Don’t Cut Medicare Advantage, a Medicare Advantage-aligned group, noted in a release that Biden’s proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage would result in “higher premiums, more out-of-pocket costs, benefits elminated, and fewer choices for seniors.”According to the study, it will have an effect on over 30 million senior citizens and disabled people.
The proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage would affect seniors in low-income and rural communities, which is ironic for the progressives trying to undermine it. Don’t Cut Medicare Advantage also noted that 53 percent of Latino Medicare beneficiaries and 50 percent of black Medicare beneficiaries enroll in Medicare Advantage.
Prominent Republicans such as Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Kevin Hern (R-OK) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) have pushed back on Biden’s proposed cuts.
Arkansas Republican wrote, “It’s President Biden who is proposing to cut Medicare Advantage, a program used by almost 4 in 10 Arkansas seniors. This would be a mistake.”
Hern contended that the Democrats’ move to hinder Medicare Advantage may serve as the “first step”All Americans to be on Medicare for All
“Public-private partnerships like Medicare Advantage [MA] provide more choices and better benefits for our seniors; we need to look to the successes of programs like MA and replicate these efforts across other government programs. The private sector has always delivered better results,”Breitbart News received an exclusive statement from Hern.
“Biden just cut nearly $5 billion in funding for Medicare Advantage, and this is just his first step. The end goal is to get everyone – not just seniors – onto government-controlled, Medicare-for-All plans,”Hern also added.
According to one Republican staffer, the White House has been engaging in obvious hypocrisy.
Sean Moran is the policy reporter for Breitbart. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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