Controversial Cuts to Medicare Advantage, Employer-Based Health Insurance Usage Increase & Government Killing Private Insurance?

Welcome to this latest installment of the Weekly Health Insurance Roundup. This week we’ll look at various articles covering Medicare, employer-based health insurance and worries over government killing private health insurance as part of their strides to reform health care in this country. Our first article comes from CNN Money and is entitled, “Medicare Advantage’ Cuts Unwelcome News For Some Lawmakers.” This article talks about how the government’s recent decision to reduce payment amounts for private Medicare plans, known as Medicare Advantage, has lawmakers worried about their re-election possibilities in future elections.

Apparently millions of elderly citizens use these private Medicare health insurance plans, and due to these payment cuts, their rates will summarily increase as a result. These rate increases and cuts could be between $40 and $70, which can quickly add up. This move has proven controversial across both political parties, because elderly voters make up much of their voter bases. However, some groups such as AARP say lawmakers are less to blame, and that more fingers should be pointed to private health insurance companies who raise their own rates, causing rates to rise elsewhere. It’s an interesting argument, and an interesting debate. We will have to see, in the coming months and years, what the long-term affects of affecting these private plans end up being.

The next article comes to us from kaisernetwork.org and is entitled, “More U.S. Workers Are Making Greater Use of Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits, Survey Finds.” This article looks at the fact that more people are making more use of their employer-sponsored health insurance plans out of worries that they can either lose their jobs, or that their employers will cut benefits to save money.

They cite a survey released by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans in which they state there was an increase of one-third in the amount of employees undergoing expensive medical procedures and filling prescriptions before their insurance runs out. More employees are also adding more dependants to their health insurance policies. It almost seems as if people are living in such fear of losing their benefits that they’re getting anything they can out of them while they’re still covered. It’s an understandable situation, but it doesn’t make it any less saddening. Hopefully once the economy begins to improve, more people will be more confident in their employers and their own health insurance coverage.

Our final article is an editorial from The Wall Street Journal entitled, “Will the Government Kill Private Health Insurance?”. In this article, the author states that, “Insurance companies have been reaping billions in profits by denying people care and coverage. No wonder they don’t want to compete with a public health insurance plan that would keep them honest and be accountable to the people.” This is a very interesting notion indeed. The article then cites other viewpoints, such as “Private health insurance is on its way out.” or “There is a reason every other modern country covers its citizens. It’s the right thing to do. Now, hopefully, we will join that community.”

According to the article, there will be plenty for private insurance companies to do under a “Medicare for all” system, including offering supplemental plans, processing claims and so on. And with millions of new people covered, there would be plenty of work and potential money to be made for these companies, according to one author.

The arguments for and against health insurance and health care reforms such as these are worthwhile, and will all need to be considered before health care reform is enacted. Until then, we will keep bringing you stories like these and others in the hopes of educating you as to what’s going on in the world of health care and health insurance. Until next time, have a happy and healthy day.

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