Senate Democrats Go for the Jugular on Medicare, Social Security

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12. Medicare is already being privatized with Advantage programs.

With original Medicare, you do not need to stay within a certain set of do tors and specialists to avoid out-of-network charges that Advantage plans have because Advantage is controlled completely by insurance companies. And those companies are charging Medicare at far higher rates than original Medicare. Some of that is because they cover more services, like eyeglasses and dental care, but they are charging higher rates even for the same medical services as original Medicare.

Advantage plans were sold as saving money for those on Medicare. Instead they are depleting the Medicare fund at a faster pace. Privatizing healthcare, and most everything else that should be provided by government, almost always leads to higher costs for consumers. And when Advantage plans finally cover a large majority of seniors, Medicare will go away and will be totally privatized with insurance companies deciding once more who gets covered and for what. Medicare is a gem, and we are just standing by and allowing private insurance companies to erode it until they are in full control.