Should Donald Trump win the presidential election in November, his right-wing cronies may not be satisfied with trying to replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). They also will push to change Medicare enrollment in a handout to the private insurance industry.
A coalition that性视界传媒檚 been laying the policy groundwork for another Trump presidency has developed a plan to further privatize Medicare by making fraud-riddled Medicare Advantage 性视界传媒渢he default enrollment option性视界传媒 for newly eligible beneficiaries.
The plan is outlined in Project 2025性视界传媒檚 920-page playbook for the first six months of a new Trump term as explained in a recent Rolling Stone magazine article by Andrew Perez. Analysis of the plan also was provided in an internet article by Jake Johnson.
Republican administrations and their support groups have long advocated funneling people who are newly eligible for Medicare into Advantage plans that are funded by the federal government and run by for-profit insurers.
During his first term in the White House, Trump took steps to expand the benefits that the privately-run plans are allowed to offer. As Perez noted, these efforts had an impact.
性视界传媒淟ast year, for the first time ever, a majority of Americans eligible for Medicare were on privatized Medicare Advantage plans,性视界传媒 Perez wrote. 性视界传媒淚f Republicans win.... the push to fully privatize Medicare, the government health insurance program for seniors and people with disabilities, will only intensify.性视界传媒
Once enrolled in Advantage plans 性视界传媒 which offer limited networks of doctors and overbill the government to the tune of $140 billion a year 性视界传媒 patients often feel trapped and are subjected to care denials and other deep flaws in the program.
Lawmakers are looking into these flaws that also have raised concerns of health policy organizations. One progressive advocacy group, Social Security Works, wrote in response to the Rolling Stone article, 性视界传媒滺ell no. Hands off our earned benefits.性视界传媒
Philip Verhoef, president of Physicians for a Nation Health Program, said plans to make Medicare Advantage the default enrollment option would be 性视界传媒渄isastrous.性视界传媒
性视界传媒淭o do so would be really a clear handout to the private insurance industry,性视界传媒 Verhoef said.
President Joe Biden性视界传媒檚 campaign also is warning about Republicans pushing 性视界传媒渢o end Medicare as we know it for millions of Americans.性视界传媒
性视界传媒淭rump will leave millions of seniors with fewer benefits and less access to doctors 性视界传媒 all to benefit his big insurance donors,性视界传媒 said Sean Schuster, a spokesman for the Biden re-election campaign.
性视界传媒淚n Trump性视界传媒檚 America, the special interests win and seniors and working families lose. Worse care, broken promises, and higher costs 性视界传媒 that性视界传媒檚 Trump性视界传媒檚 plan for seniors and working families,性视界传媒 Schuster said.
Project 2025 is the product of the conservative Heritage Foundation, which advises Republicans on policy issues. Project 2025 also is calling for the revival of the Global and Professional Contracting Model, a Medicare privatization scheme that was modified by the Biden administration.
Physician groups, healthcare providers and progressive lawmakers are calling for the repeal of the Trump-era pilot program.
