Whats The Issue On Medicare Advantage Plans.....

[dwayneb]

106. Ask my neighbor

They are on Medicare Advantage. They have to truck all over town to get her to the specialists she needs because only a few are accepted in her system. Me? I can go anywhere I want, no questions asked. That's a huge problem when you are in your late 80's like they are. She was also forced to go through alternative less effective treatments for her arthritis and osteoporosis when her doctor knew were not the right course of treatment but she had no choice - MA wouldn't pay.

There are several posts in here describing other specific downsides but obviously people don't like to give our personal information.

Here is a good report from NBC and NPR with a number of different anecdotes.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/rejecting-claims-medicare-advantage-rural-hospitals-rcna121012
https://www.npr.org/2024/01/07/1223353604/older-americans-say-they-feel-trapped-in-medicare-advantage-plans

What really proved the point to me was that UHC which provides my Traditional Supplement sent one of their salesmen to my house trying to convince us to switch to Medicare Advantage. Told us how much his elderly mother "loves it".

That tells you something right there. UHC knows which side their bread is buttered on. I tried to get this sleazy salesman to tell me how much Medicare gives UHC for each MA customer, but he wouldn't. I think it's around $15,000 a year. Once you start getting expenses up to that level, that when they start stalling and twisting and turning in their efforts to deny payments or to force you to get alternate less effective procedures like my neighbor.