Letter: Medicare Advantage

This was an excellent opinion regarding the disadvantages of Medicare Advantage (MA) programs. MA is a misnomer since it is an insurance company product for Medicare eligible patients but it is not Medicare. The MA plans profits are excessive by even health insurance standards, double that of indemnity insurance. The MA plans across the board (8 of the 10 largest) have been accused of upcoding and overbilling with 4 of the 5 largest accursed of outright fraudulent practices. This has resulted in an estimated 22-35% excess billings which amounts to $88 to $140 BILLION per year, which is more than enough to provide all Medicare beneficiaries' vision, hearing, and dental care.

United Healthcare reports an expected profit of $27.5 billion in 2024, the majority due to their MA plans. Traditional Medicare (TM) has no profit motive and overhead operating expenses is about 3%. We need to greatly improve TM and take the profit incentive out of MA for the sake of patients and taxpayers.

Michael Hamant, MD

East side

Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.