The largest-ever Medicare premium increase will pad the pockets of insurance executives who donated millions to the president’s election campaign. In effect, the higher premium increases will subsidize the larger payments to — and profits for — private insurance corporations. The administration’s announcement comes as Biden officials move forward with a jolting 8.5 percent hike in payments made to private insurers operating Medicare Advantage plans next year. That money can be funneled into traditional government Medicare plans, or into Medicare Advantage plans run by private insurers that are incentivized to limit the amount of care that elders receive. Around this same time, CMS announced a massive 8.5 percent increase in the rates paid to for-profit Medicare Advantage plans — despite the official body overseeing Medicare payments, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, concluding that Medicare Advantage is more costly than traditional Medicare.

Source: The Guardian June 06, 2022 01:33 UTC