Medicare turns 58 on Sunday, July 30. It’s had its ups and downs, we all know. There are two immediate threats to its safety for which we all should consider taking action.
The first is the pushback from pharmaceutical companies against the provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that requires Medicare to negotiate on drug prices. Such negotiation has never been done before and we are the losers because of it, paying the highest prices in the world for the meds we need to keep us functioning. The pharmas are crying poverty, doom and gloom if they must negotiate, and have filed suit in various places against the Biden Administration over it. This over just 10 drugs, and the negotiated prices won’t even take effect until 2026. Pardon us while we get out the world’s smallest violin to play a sad, sad tune.
The second is the con known as Medicare Advantage. This is the private version of Medicare and it’s being pushed hard on us. It may look like a good deal, but as this article from Consumer Reports details, there are some hidden drawbacks that at the very least we all need to be aware of to make an informed choice. Most concerning is the evidence that Advantage plans overcharge Medicare for the care they cover by listing patients as sicker than they are. For a strategy that was meant to save Medicare money, it’s been a dismal failure, but great for the insurers’ CEOs’ compensation. There are also places around the country where Medicare recipients have been moved to Advantage plans without their consent.
So caveat emptor is the watchword. Traditional Medicare is far from perfect, of course; whoever decided that eyes and teeth were not important enough to cover was no friend of the older adult. But it’s something, we would be the worse without it, and it’s worthy of our support. So think of Medicare on Sunday, and maybe write to your legislators to remind them that it needs their support, too. A good place to start might be for them to get behind the Biden plan to extend Medicare solvency, which you can read about here.
And happy birthday and thank you, Medicare!
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