Pro-Corporation Rather Than Pro-Patient
Republished from our friends at Health Care is a Human Right-WA plus a Section-by-Section Review
Trump’s most recent Executive Order on Protecting and Improving Medicare for Our Nation’s Seniors is the worst kind of evil: the evil you don’t see coming. Disguised as an effort to “save Medicare,” it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It is a giveaway to corporate insurers who sell Medicare Advantage plans. Now, these corporate insurers have the green light to cherry-pick the healthiest of seniors and others relying on Medicare, and to use all of their tricks to avoid paying the bill — narrow networks, no out-of-state coverage, high deductibles, etc.
It is no surprise that Trump would go after Medicare. It is something he campaigned on, after all. But don’t be fooled by the spin! It is actually an attempt to weaken Medicare by allowing Big Business to compete with Medicare and charge more, and make a big profit while they’re at it — and it is subsidized by the majority of beneficiaries who are in traditional Medicare.
Trump couldn't resist a swipe at Medicare for All. In HCFA-WA's Sarah K. Weinberg, MD's not-taking-any-BS review of the Executive Order she says:
This entire Executive Order should be viewed as an attack on Medicare for All proposed legislation and is designed to sow confusion and distrust regarding the classic Medicare program that has been in effect for over 50 years.
Read Dr. Weinberg's section-by-section review originally printed in the HCFA-WA Winter 2019 Newsletter.
More Analysis
October 3, 2019 Statement of Eagan Kemp, Health Care Policy Advocate, Public Citizen