The Medicare Open Enrollment period ends on December 7, and I wish I had had the knowledge when I signed up that I now have about MA. “Medicare Advantage” (MA) is not an advantage for seniors and people with disabilities. It’s not even the same Medicare program that Americans are familiar with.

Low premiums lure people like me into Medicare Advantage which can work well, while you are healthy! Long term, it works mainly for the profits of the insurers. Journalists, researchers, and government agencies have shown that many health insurance companies overcharge Medicare by giving patients exaggerated or entirely false diagnoses. Several companies have been fined, or sued, and have agreed to large settlements. Medicare Advantage insurers are taking your tax dollars for conditions they aren’t even treating. That sounds a lot like fraud to me.

Over 50% of Medicare beneficiaries now have for-profit corporations, some like ACO REACH, that are in charge of their care through MA. Insurance companies are highly paid for these plans, money goes to corporate profits instead of care. The companies running MA plans want to take over Medicare entirely, leaving us with no option but to give our money to private insurers.

Investigations into claim denials in MA found that insurers were inappropriately denying treatments and tests that should be covered under Medicare. Physician surveys show that these practices often cause patients to suffer unnecessarily, and can even be life-threatening. In some cases, MA insurers were found to spend just seconds on each claim, and have even denied claims using artificial intelligence instead of medical experts.

I am all for practitioners being fairly compensated for their excellent care, but handing our healthcare over to never-ending corporate greed should end.

Sally Roth

Bristol