Medicare Advantage: Only an advantage for those glorious “stakeholders”
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“It isn’t the patients who are bankrupting Medicare….its the service providers on all levels. If the states and insurance companies need to “recapture” their expenses…why not start with those who are gaming the system?”
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According to the US Census Bureau, annual home ownership rates between 1982 and 2017 shows the population of those 65 or older represented just over 80% of all homes owned. This statistic has made the elderly prime targets for estate theft by predatory guardians and attorneys, and now under Medicare Advantage, the state/insurance companies can attack the estate because for some reason they have to be able to recapture the costs of long term care that you financed to begin with.
Now, ask yourself why, after investing in Social Security and Medicare over your lifetime, and….having to pay in most cases exorbitant premiums each and every month once you retire, along with co-pays, deductibles and a host of non-covered services, what you could possibly owe to the state or the insurance company?
But under Medicare Advantage, the combining of Medicare and Medicaid, after you having invested a portion of your earnings over your working lifetime, paid premiums, co-pays, deductibles and paid taxes to support these healthcare programs, these “stakeholders”, the [state/insurance company] must recapture the costs associated with long term care you might have needed, once you pass away.
Now think about this. You worked all your life and invested in Social Security and Medicare. You paid income tax every year which helped pay for medical care for the poor called Medicaid. You bought your home and have been assessed property taxes every year just for doing so, and continue to pay property taxes while you remain there, and long after the mortgage has been paid off. If you hadn’t paid those property taxes they would have already taken your property from you!
Currently, the bills in each state covering this “recapture”, prohibit the state from seizing property if there is a surviving spouse living in or on the property. But once the surviving spouse dies or are themselves put into long term care, the state/insurance company can attack the estate in order to recover those costs. Even if there is joint tenancy or co-ownership of property by those who are not otherwise responsible for, or legally bound to the deceased, the state/insurance company has first rights to the assets. And this recapture takes place before any inheritance can be received by the beneficiaries of the estate. Of course there is no intention of anything to remain for heirs.
Medicare Advantage is a prime example of how to deal with a sector of the public that government views as a waste population and desperately desires to be rid of. The elderly. With the federal government now owing Social Security an estimated 3 trillion dollars in stolen surplus funds that they never had any intention of repaying, and the medical industry overall defrauding Medicare of an estimated 30-60 billion dollars each year (this by the government’s own estimates) Medicare Advantage is poised to be the coup de gras. By attaching Medicaid to Medicare under this ubiquitous plan, if you are in long term care or any facility like hospice, the state has the right to attach your estate, take your home and any other assets you might have in order to “recapture” those costs once you die.
Of course these new “advantage” policies include vision, dental, hearing and other items not normally covered by Medicare. But it seems to me, if an effort to stop the massive fraud taking place by the medical industry with regards to Medicare were to be addressed with as much vigor as they apply to finding ways to cut benefits, limit services and deny coverage, we could easily pay for any and all services for the elderly with a few billion annually to spare.
The states routinely request bids from insurance companies to offer these policies. The state does not of itself sell insurance. It negotiates contracts with insurance companies. It is the insurance company that sells the insurance the state is promoting. Several plans offered by several insurance companies at varying rates of cost and coverage are all sponsored by the state via corporate contracts. The state is itself the top stakeholder in the negotiations and they are negotiating to see who will benefit most from contracting against you, the public, for profit.
The question you need to be asking is: Which “stakeholder” is actually going to be entitled to recapture the costs?” Is it the state? Or the insurance company? Or both?
If there is one term that has come to signify corruption, collusion, and an all out assault on the public in any area of government, it is has to be the term “stakeholder’s”. What this term signifies are those entities, organizations, corporations and others who have a vested financial interest in the issue at hand and who will enjoy increased profits even at the cost of human rights, life or liberty. These precious “stakeholders” write the bills, send swarms of lobbyists into the halls of congress and contribute handsomely to the campaign coffers of politicians who willingly sell their votes in lieu of those contributions. And even when commenting is requested from the public, unless the comments are in line with the proposed plan they are summarily ignored and/or disposed of. They don’t care what you think or want anyway. YOU are the commodity they are negotiating over.
The public is not a stakeholder…only a recipient and financier
Both state and federal legislators routinely vote to pass bills they have neither read, nor understand and obviously do not care how adversely it may affect the public at large. A reading of any bill dealing with health, insurance, prescription drugs or other topics makes it readily apparent that the sponsor or supposed author of the bill could not have possibly written the bill themselves, or had any part in it. They don’t have that kind of technical knowledge nor the interest in acquiring it. The bills are written by the corporations who will benefit from it. The bills are presented once the corporations have paid the financing fees, also known as campaign contributions.
Medicare Fraud by Providers is Massive!
It isn’t the patients who are bankrupting Medicare….its the service providers on all levels. If the states and insurance companies need to “recapture” their expenses…why not start with those who are gaming the system?
In 2017, an article from the Center for Public Integrity, titled..Fraud and Billing Mistakes Costs Medicare ..and Taxpayers…Tens of Billions Last Year, written by Fred Schulte:
“Adding in the over-payments for standard Medicare programs, the tally for last year approaches $60 billion — which is almost twice as much as the National Institutes of Health spends on medical research each year.” (end quote)
An article from John Minnino: Medicare Scammers Steal $60 Billion a Year. This Man Is Hunting Them
“Luckily, there is another defense against Medicare fraud: whistle-blower lawsuits. Under the federal government’s false claims statute, any insider can sue a company that’s providing fraudulent services, on the government’s behalf. If the whistle-blower lawyers are successful, the plaintiffs collect 15 to 30 percent of the settlement as a bounty. In 2014 there were 469 of these health care fraud settlements—many involving huge pharmaceutical corporations and hospital networks—resulting in $2.2 billion in fines.” (end quote)
As far back as 2010, Forbes was reporting on the massive frauds taking place in Medicare and Medicaid
There are a few common types of Medicare fraud that include:
- Identity Theft: When a medical professional steals patient information to use to over-bill Medicare.
- Equipment Substitution: An order for medical equipment may be intercepted, with Medicare being billed for newer or more expensive equipment and the patient being provided with cheap or used equipment.
- Phantom Billing: A doctor’s office may bill for services never performed.
- Upcoding: A medical provider may submit bills to Medicare for a more expensive service than the one actually performed.
- Unnecessary Procedures: A doctor may perform procedures that are not medically necessary in order to bill Medicare for the cost.
- Generic Drugs: Medicare is often billed for name brand medications when generic drugs were actually provided to the patient.
And why would an insurance company be entitled to your assets after your death after selling you a policy guaranteeing medical coverage if premiums were paid on your behalf by anyone, including the state? Isn’t that the purpose of insurance? The pooling of resources to cover these costs with a built in profit margin. This is fraud! And it is also the legalized theft of property bought and paid for by those “stakeholders” our politicians pander to.
At what point will the public be a consideration in these negotiations that cost us all so much both financially, as well as being the intended recipients of all this corruption?
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https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/data/charts/fig07.pdf
https://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2012/05/31/medicare-and-medicaid-fraud-is-costing-taxpayers-billions/#bac0f8873311
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardkrooks/2012/10/04/seniors-need-to-be-wary-of-medicare-fraud/#43b553508d07
From: Physicians for a National Health Program
http://pnhp.org/news/cms-is-giving-unfair-competitive-advantage-to-private-medicare-advantage-plans/
CMS is giving unfair competitive advantage to private Medicare Advantage plans
What is really offensive is that they are taking our tax dollars and giving them to the private insurers so that they can increase benefits and reduce cost sharing for those enrolled in the private plans while they are denying those same benefits and reduced premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and stop loss coverage for those of us enrolled in the traditional Medicare program. That is patently unfair. If they were honest about wanting true competition between the private plans and the traditional public program they would fund them at the same risk-adjusted level. Instead they are starving the traditional program – a process that will accelerate – while they are enriching the private insurers, though only temporarily until the traditional program is wiped out (then premium support).
Comment:
By Don McCanne, M.D.
Each year the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has used a variety of gimmicks to provide the private Medicare Advantage plans with greater reimbursement rates than their costs and what they are statutorily entitled to. This year the padding of the payments is egregiously obscene.
Tying Medicaid to Medicare….
Medicaid, which was formerly the insurance program for the poor has now been tied to Medicare, the invested insurance the elderly have paid for through their working lifetimes.
Feb 04, 2019 @ 20:09:35
They can take your home and leave you for dead if they chose and there is not a damn thing you can do to stop them, I am not talking about eminent domain, or any legal process. I am talking about just plain bullying, and committed criminal offenses while bullying. https://poisonedbymyneighborfromhell.com
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Feb 04, 2019 @ 11:39:16
This is by passed Louiee if the individual is on a medicare/medicaid policy.
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Feb 04, 2019 @ 02:38:29
Why you should file under the Homestead Act
February 14, 2017
http://realestate.boston.com/ask-the-expert/2017/02/14/file-homestead-act/
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Feb 04, 2019 @ 02:32:37
February 8, 2011
Home Sweet Homestead? Additional Protection from Nursing Home Costs Under Massachusetts Homestead Law
On December 16, 2010, Governor Patrick signed into law An Act Relevant to the Estate of Homestead. The new law increases the homestead protection available to everyone.
Homestead is simply a formal legal statement, recorded at the registry of deeds, that this property is your home. By claiming Homestead, you can protect your home from the claims of creditors.
If you do not choose to formally file a Declaration of Homestead under the new law, your home will still be protected to the extent of $125,000. Formal filing increases the limit to $500,000. What does the protection mean? If you are sued for an unsecured debt, the equity in your home is protected. This means that a creditor cannot attach your house while you are alive.
This does not help people who have been using their house as a cash resource. Mortgages, including Home Equity Lines of Credit, are specifically excluded from the protection.
It does help those who fear losing their homes to unexpected unsecured liabilities. One example of an unexpected unsecured liability is a claim by a nursing home for payment for services. No one wants to need the services of a nursing home. Like any medical care, nursing home services are determined by what you need, not what you want. Long term care insurance is only available to those who are unlikely to need it soon. Some people simply cannot ensure against this risk because they cannot quality. Others do not have the income available to pay for the insurance. Filing homestead will protect your home against nursing home costs while you are alive.
The purpose of this law is not to protect your home for your heirs, but to make sure that debt does not leave you homeless while you live. Once both spouses are dead, unless they leave young children, the homestead protection no longer applies.
Under the old Homestead Act, it was not clear whether a residence in trust qualified for Homestead protection. For this among other reasons, I have recommended that my clients place only the remainder interests in their homes into their trusts, retaining a life estate and claiming Homestead on the life estate.
But for those who transfer their entire interest in a home into a trust, the ability to have the trustee file the Homestead Declaration could be valuable.
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Feb 02, 2019 @ 11:39:40
I agree papajoe. we are being taken apart and dispossessed of anything of moentary value as a result of losing our protected rights.
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Feb 02, 2019 @ 11:29:24
We are being dispossessed of everything. Our rights, our liberty and now our property. We are not the land of the free. we have become the land of greed and home of the slaves. God help us all.
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Feb 02, 2019 @ 11:23:12
i called my insurance company yesterday to find out if this was true. couldn’t get a straight answer out of them. I pointed out that the policy includes a provision for long term care but says nothing about recapturing any of these expenses. Finally called the governors office here in Mass. Sure enough..they passed this right into law across th country and it pre empts any written policy you might have. They have already had my dad’s house appraised and inventoried his possessions.
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Feb 02, 2019 @ 11:12:52
i just found out about this when my mother went into long term care. Got a notice from the insurance company via the state that all costs for long term care would be assessed against my mothers estate and recaptured. The only thing in her supposed estate is the family home which she inherited from her parents. Us kids were also told that we cannot remove any possessions of any kind including family heirlooms and memorabilia. They also locked down her checking account so even she cant access it. They changed the locks on the family home and put in a security system just in case we decided that what belonged to the family should stay in the family. She is not terminally ill and home care woudl have been great but they took her and put her in a home. They also are using something called a “look back” goiing back five years to see if she sold or gave anything away of value because the want it. Nothin but a bunch of thieves and our politicians passed this crap into law here in Texas.
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Feb 02, 2019 @ 11:02:21
Read this article and thought it was just fake news. then checked with my state reps. office and find out it is accurate as hell. thanks NY politicians…you screwed us again.
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Feb 02, 2019 @ 09:56:25
Imagine if we actually taxed corporations at a fair rate. 60% of corporations pay no taxes, and many get refunds in the millions every year on taxes they never paid to begin with. This is “free trade capitalism”. All it means is that those at the top get to profit off those below them economically. All these insurance companies make profits in the millions if not a billion or more a year…profits made by screwing the public with the blessings of legislators who neither read nor care about the legislation effects on the public. we are being driven into third world status by greed all in the name of capitalism.
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Feb 02, 2019 @ 09:50:17
Stakeholders: code for all the people that make it profitable for elected officials to screw you over
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Feb 02, 2019 @ 09:43:21
this is disgusting. just checked iowa laws and sure enough…those traitors in the iowa legislature passed this into law. i dont know why they dont just show up with their militarized police and some tanks and other war weapons and steal it like they do everything else.
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Feb 02, 2019 @ 09:41:08
Marti is right, this is the real transfer of wealth. Like watching vultures attack a dead animal and pick its bones.
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Feb 02, 2019 @ 08:16:42
We are taxed into oblivion on absolutely every possible thing and now they think we should forfiet our property because they had to make good on an insurance poilicy they sold us?
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