John,
Medicare is supposed to be the rock solid guarantee of health care for seniors and people with disabilities. But about 25 years ago, Congress established Medicare Advantage. It allows private insurance companies to offer Medicare coverage and to be paid by the federal government for each person that they insure.
Medicare Advantage was created with the promise that the private sector could reduce costs by better managing care. But as you may very well know, these health insurance corporations are raking in tremendous profit by denying and delaying care to beneficiaries and overcharging Medicare for that privilege.
Let's be clear. The greed of profit-hungry health insurance corporations is devouring Medicare as we know it.
Recent investigations identified extensive allegations of fraud, abuse, overbilling, and denials of medically necessary care at nine of the top 10 Medicare Advantage plans. Private equity firms are buying up primary care providers as fast as they can to turn a profit – and algorithms are denying care to patients. Companies offering Medicare Advantage plans are being overpaid by taxpayers by at least $27 billion every year.
When the contract to move NYC public sector retirees to Medicare Advantage plans came across my desk as Comptroller, I took it seriously. Given that pending litigation calls into question the City's legal authority to enter the Medicare Advantage contract with Aetna, the Comptroller’s Office declined to register and returned the contract to Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. Today, the Administration announced they would move forward with the contract anyways. We believe a more prudent path would be to wait for the litigation to resolve.
Nationwide, more than 50 percent of all people on Medicare are now enrolled in one of these private Medicare Advantage plans. All the while, the powerful health insurance lobby spends tens of millions of dollars to hammer Congress and the White House for high payments and no new regulations.
But activists here in New York and across the country are fighting back against the privatization of Medicare. One of the loudest voices against the takeover of Medicare belongs to my dear friend and health care activist, Ady Barkan.
Ady, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2017, has turned dying into organizing as founder and Co-Executive Director of Be A Hero. Ady is giving his last breaths to win universal health care and Be a Hero is leading the charge against the privatization and corporatization of Medicare.
As Ady says, “Once corporations privatize every inch of the public provision of health care, we may never get Medicare back.” That’s why this work, and this fight, is so urgent.
I’ve proudly supported Ady and Be A Hero over the years and have seen the power of their work. From big money, to special interests, to powerful politicians – Be A Hero has taken them all on and won, all while working toward their mission of guaranteeing health care for all.
As the abuse of Medicare continues, it will become even more important for us to organize and speak out against the greed of the health care industry. I hope you’ll join me in supporting Be A Hero as we work toward compassionate, efficient health care for all New Yorkers.
In solidarity,
Brad
P.S. My dear friend and health care activist, Ady Barkan, and his organization, Be A Hero, are organizing every day to defend Medicare. Can you please click here to donate $5.00 to Be A Hero Action Fund so they can continue this work? Even a few dollars makes a huge difference.
