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As an 80-year-old, the security that all of my health care costs will be totally covered with no copay, gives me unbelievable peace of mind. After 40 years of hiking, I never imagined I would end up with three broken bones in my ankle coming down a mountain. With a skilled surgeon, and not one bill from original Medicare plus supplemental insurance, I am back on the trail.
On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law legislation that established Medicare. For 50 years, original Medicare has given seniors the security that 80 percent of their health care costs will be covered. With an additional “medigap” policy the remaining 20 percent guarantees full coverage of all costs.
In 1997, Congress established a new Part C of the Medicare program, which became known as Medicare Advantage. It authorized private organizations to manage your Medicare. My mailbox and my phone are daily filled with messages luring me to change to Medicare Advantage to get free eyeglasses, free hearing aids, free gym and, truly, very low monthly payments. The unclear part is the copay.
After the Oct. 18 hearing on Medicare Advantage by the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren had this to say:
“So the way I think of this is the Medicare Advantage plans that game the system get billions of dollars in overpayments, they then turn around and use that money to flood seniors with deceptive ads to lure them to join their plans.”
On July 31, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that “Martin’s Point Health Care Inc. (Martin’s Point), headquartered in Portland, Maine, has agreed to pay $22,485,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting inaccurate diagnosis codes for its Medicare Advantage Plan enrollees in order to increase reimbursements from Medicare.”
The peace of mind and security that original Medicare plus a supplemental plan gives me is worth the higher monthly cost. Why would I trust a Medicare Advantage private company that has paid to settle fraud allegations when my original government Medicare has proven to be totally reliable?
Carole Beal
Blue Hill