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Posted on 11/16/2013 1:58:31 PM PST by Olog-hai
UnitedHealth Group has dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company’s other healthcare business.
The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services. …
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Isn’t UHC the same company that is now running healthcare for the military?
You can’t keep your doctor, either. Period.
I know that this is true!
I was sitting in the waiting area of my doctor’s office and watched as several patients were told that their “Medicare Advantage” was no longer accepted.
IIRC, it was sold to them through AARP.
You can keep your doctor, he’s just not going to get paid is all.
If I recall when the Obamanation health care legislation passed one of the CBO costing issues stated that Medicare would be cut by 500 Billion to offset estimates for Obamacare and keep the entire lie under 1 Trillion. The dems/communists told concerned seniors not to worry that they would be covered by Obamacare. It looks like another lie to me.
"Do NOT worry. This will NOT affect Congress
or their families, or Moslems."
Let me be absolutely clear about this...
What we said when we said what we said was that if you like your health care plan, you won’t be able to afford to keep your health care plan. Period. End of story.
And what we said when we said what we said was that if you like your doctor, you won’t be able to afford to keep your doctor. Period. End of story.
Yep it sure is.
That’s right. AARP pushes it. I have a relative who refused to sell it as he said it was not worth having. That was two years ago. I guess he was right.
... and slowly , very slowly, before our eyes, Obamacare is turning into ZEROCARE.
There are still millions of liberals who think OCare is the best legislation ever.
Obamacare is literally going to cause a lot of people to die and, I bet, that Obama will still sleep well at night.
Advantage plans with any insurance company cost more money than regular Medicare and their money has been cut back by government to bring Advantage in line with regular Medicare costs. It is not only UnitedHealthcare that has to drop some services from Advantage plans, it’s all insurance companies that will have to do this.
Advantage plans lock a patient into certain doctors and the patient has to choose which doctors in that group the patient wants to see.
Regular Medicare with supplement insurance does not have a pool of doctors - you go to any doctor you want. That is why I did not get an Advantage plan.
And at great cost to the individual/family.
I don’t have an Advantage plan so nothing changes for me. I have regular Medicare and a supplement policy. The only change is the supplement will be $5.25 more a month, that’s it and it usually goes up a bit every year.
I always knew the Advantage Plans were going to be in trouble and come to an end or be greatly reduced as they took more money from the government than regular Medicare did.
You need the right information. Every Advantage Plan in this country takes more money from the government than regular Medicare. Years ago, I knew this could not last. I did not want an Advantage Plan because you are limited to a certain set of doctors. Their Plans include some amount of money for eye glasses and a membership to a health club and I don’t know if any have some dental service. These extra services cost money and now those plans are going to be cut to bring the cost down to regular Medicare costs.
You have choices of insurance in AARP. I chose the supplement plan and everyone can do that. Those who chose the Advantage Plan are going to lose benefits.
So, I have regular Medicare and a supplement policy from UnitedHealthCare through AARP. It is the cheapest for me due to my age as the AARP group is so large, the cost of the policy is less than other insurance companies.
I lose nothing in 2014. My UnitedHealthCare supplement policy goes up $5.25 a month and it always go up a bit each year and is still cheaper through AARP. You know me - before I took any policy I researched every policy available and my best policy was through AARP and UnitedHealthCare and I haven’t regretted that at any time. I had double cataract surgery in 2012 and it didn’t cost me an extra cent. I actually made money as I have a “cash” medical insurance policy through them that pays me cash money if I have to have day surgery or be in the hospital more days. I sent them the hospital bill showing how long I was there and I get a check from them no questions asked.
So, it is your choice that makes the difference.
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