By Jake Johnson | – ( Commondreams.org) – The Israeli military launched a deadly assault on Gaza’s largest hospital last month on the grounds that the facility concealed a sprawling Hamas command center. But a detailed Washington Post investigation by By Louisa Loveluck, Evan Hill, Jonathan Baran, Jarrett Ley and Ellen Nakashima published Thursday found […]
7 Questions to ask to Protect yourself from Medicare Advantage Scams
Diane Archer ( Common Dreams ) – During this Medicare Open Enrollment period, ask yourself these seven questions. And, please know that you can always call the Medicare Rights Center at 1-800-333-4114 or your SHIP—State Health Insurance Assistance Program—for free, unbiased advice on any of your Medicare questions. Q. What’s the biggest difference between traditional […]
Medicare Advantage Overbills Taxpayers by $140 Billion a Year — Enough to Wipe Out Medicare Premiums
Jake Johnson ( Commondreams.org ) – A report published Wednesday estimates that privately run, government-funded Medicare Advantage plans are overcharging U.S. taxpayers by up to $140 billion per year, a sum that could be used to completely eliminate Medicare Part B premiums or fully fund Medicare’s prescription drug program. Physicians for a National Health […]
Progressives Unveil OLIGARCH Act to Combat ‘Existential Threat’ of Extreme Wealth Inequality
By Jake Johnson | – ( Commondreams) – A group of progressive U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday proposed a wealth tax that would automatically rise during periods of surging inequality and fall once inequality moderates. The tax is at the heart of new legislation called the Oppose Limitless Inequality Growth and Reverse Community Harms (OLIGARCH) Act, […]
Why Are Corporate Healthcare Fraudsters Being Handed ‘Get Out of Jail Free Cards’?
Kay Tillow Jun 12, 2023Common Dreams ( Commondreams.org ) – The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that oversees those national health care programs, has the dubious distinction of being light years ahead of other government regulators in excusing fraudulent conduct. CMS doesn’t just allow healthcare companies to repeatedly commit […]
No Amount of Fraud Deters Government Agencies When It Comes to Privatizing Medicare
By Ana Malinow and Kay Tillow | – ( Commondreams.org) – On January 17, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) announced 48 new model participants in a controversial pilot program called Accountable Care Organization: Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health, better known as ACO REACH. CMMI, created by the Affordable Care Act, is […]
‘Cancel This Failed Experiment’: Physicians Tell Biden HHS to End Medicare Privatization Pilot
By Jake Johnson | – ( Commondreams.org) – A national physician group this week called for the complete termination of a Medicare privatization scheme that the Biden White House inherited from the Trump administration and later rebranded—while keeping intact its most dangerous components. Now known as the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community […]
Rights Advocates Alarmed Over Israel’s New ‘Fascist, Racist, and Settler’ Government
By Jessica Corbett | – ( Commondreams.org ) – Global concerns about the new Israeli government—especially what it means for Palestinians—continued to grow Thursday as Benjamin Netanyahu took the oath of office to again serve as prime minister, this time leading the most far-right and religiously conservative coalition in the country’s history. The embattled leader […]
Medicare Dis-Advantage: Shortchanging the Patients While Enriching the Insurer
By Leonard Rodberg | – ( Commondreams.org) – Advocates of universal health care are currently battling the effort by corporate forces, both outside and within the Medicare, to privatize the portion of the program that is now fully public. These corporate interests aim to insert between Medicare and the medical professionals who actually provide care […]