Advocate for Better Healthcare
A public service for a better community
Happy Monday Healthcare Advocates
Remember our advocacy educates our representatives and lets them know what we want them to do for us.
Please enter requests for research using the comment button at the bottom. Some of you have asked for more doctor payment specifics with respect to HR 3421 and those details are being researched. Prison and Rural healthcare are also being investigated
Upcoming Events - Movie
“American Hospitals - Healing a Broken System” is a film depicting how out of control costs are at hospitals in our broken healthcare system. Here is a link to the trailer and here is a link to a site that depicts where it is being shown around the country.
Rural Healthcare - Learn More
Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, 5:00 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET), Professor Angela Gyurko will discuss healthcare reform. She began advocating for reform in 2016 and she’s learned more than she ever wanted to know about Critical Access Hospitals, how the insurance industry functions in rural areas, and the inequities inherent in rural healthcare. Click HERE to register. The event is sponsored by One Payer States who focuses on Universal Healthcare at the state level first.
Medicaid Band Aid
There was legislation passed in 2011 to assist healthcare students with tuition reimbursement and scholarships as part of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) well as supporting community healthcare centers. It was a multi-year bill and at its maximum it provides $3.8B for community health centers and $380M for the NHSC.
A new bill, HR 2559, has been proposed in Congress by Rep. John Joyce (R-PA-5) called Strengthening Community Care Act of 2023. It extends the amounts above to 2028 so the system does not disappear.
If we don’t have HR 3421, Improved Medicare for All, then we have to have band aids like this. I would modify it and index it to inflation so the amounts rise each year based on the cost of living.
ACTION 1
Use RESISTBOT (text SIGN PMIJJP to 50409) or call or email your congressional representative and senators (their contact info is in the References Section) and tell them something like:
“My name is [name] and I live in [zipcode] and I am your constituent. What I really want is for you to cosponsor either HR 3421 or S 1655 Improved Medicare for All. Over 60% of all bankruptcies are related to medical debt. 100 million of us have medical bills we can’t pay and over 8 million are losing access to Medicaid right now
If you can’t get that passed right away then I want you to enact the Strengthening Community Care Act of 2023, HR 2559. It continues the existing funding to community healthcare centers. They provide some healthcare for those without insurance and some Medicaid patients. It also funds the National Health Service Corps that provides healthcare scholarships and reduces tuition debt for healthcare providers. The bill maintains the 2023 funding levels through 2028. I recommend you add an amendment to increase each year’s funding by indexing it to the cost of living. Thanks. But remember HR3421 Improved Medicare for All is better.”
More on Medicare Advantage Ripoffs of America
The most profitable health insurance product in America is Medicare Advantage. This is private health insurance for people that are eligible for Medicare. Remember that we, the people, pay about $1000/month or more (often more) to private health insurance companies for these plans.
Wendell Potter, who publishes Healthcare Uncovered, recently reported on the salaries of health insurance executives. Here is a summary of the compensation for the top 7 executives for 2022. About $330M.
Molina……………….Joseph Zubretsky…..$108.8M
Cigna…………………David Cordani………..$ 37.1M
CVS/Aetna………..Karen Lynch……………$ 30.9M
Humana…………….David Broussard…….$ 30,6M
Elevance…………….Gail Boudreaux………$ 24M
United Health….Andrea Witt…………….$ 23.8M
Centene……………..Sarah Loudon …………$ 8.2M
How does their compensation get so high? Well, they receive a salary and they receive stock options. If the price of the stock rises above their option price, then they can cash them in for a huge payday. These companies also buy back their stock in the market place and that helps keep the price of the stock high and helps those options be valuable. Here is a youtube Young Turks summary of his report.
Which companies are cheating Medicare? According to the New York Times
Only Centene seemed to avoid shenanigans.
Ok Let’s review. HHS takes our money and gives to private companies to provide private health insurance for at least 1/3 of those eligible for Medicare. The companies are largely involved in cheating the government and jacking up the price of the stock with buybacks so their CEOs, and other executives can become wealthy. They spend hundreds of millions lobbying Congress to keep the system as profitable as possible. And this bunch stands between you and your doctor and denies a large percentage of claims and wants to preapprove treatment your doctor says is necessary and delays it and then denies it.
We the people have been scammed.
ACTION 2
Let’s let Congress and the President know this is just a scam.
Use RESISTBOT (text SIGN PQNCOU to 50409) or call or email your congressional representative and senators (their contact info is in the References Section) and tell them something like:
“Hi My name is [name] and I live in [zipcode] and I am your constituent. Medicare Advantage costs the US way too much. The companies involved are largely found to cheat, they deny needed coverage, require pre-authorizations for needed care, and worst yet engage in stock buybacks that help enrich their executives. The top 7 health insurance CEOs made $330 million last year. They spend hundreds of millions lobbying you and the Congress to keep the system as profitable as possible. The best would be for you to enact HR3421 Improved Medicare for All - Public payment to private providers. If you can’t do that,e at least keep the health insurance companies who do business with the US government from cheating and employing stock price boosting tactics like buybacks. We elected you to help us. Help us from getting scammed.”
References
Find My Elected Officials
Contact the White House https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Contact State and Federal Representatives
https://www.commoncause.org/find-your-representative/addr/
Important Healthcare Resources
League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare
Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Organizations to Contact
NARAL - Pro Choice America
Planned Parenthood
Physicians for a National Health Plan
Claims Denials and Appeals & What to Do
Appeal a Healthcare Decision
Appeal/Negotiate a Hospital Bill
Save Democracy
Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens
RESISTBOT
Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more
Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water Resistbot write up