Free Republic

Millions of Americans could face an unwelcome surprise when Medicare open enrollment begins October 15. Major insurance companies are eliminating plans, reducing benefits and pulling out of markets, leaving older Americans with fewer choices and potentially higher healthcare costs in 2027. For retirees already struggling with rising living expenses, the changes could make healthcare an even bigger financial concern.According to healthcare research organization KFF, the average Medicare beneficiary will have access to approximately 35 Medicare Advantage plans in 2027, down from 39 in 2026. Meanwhile, at least 3.8 million enrollees are expected to need new coverage as insurers discontinue plans...

President Donald Trump announced billions of dollars in Medicare fraud discovered, with payments to millions of seniors going out starting tomorrow, during a rally in San Antonio on Oct. 7. “My administration has located billions and billions of dollars that were supposed to be spent on improving Medicare ... but it never got spent, so they tried to hide it, and by hiding it, they tried to make their numbers look better, which was impossible because their numbers are so bad,” Trump told thousands of supporters in the Freeman Coliseum on Oct. 7 during an event to boost support for...

President Donald Trump on Saturday called on Congress to impose mandatory prison sentences on people convicted of defrauding Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security and proposed holding state and local politicians personally liable if they knowingly allow such fraud to continue. "Today, I'm calling on Congress to pass legislation to address fraud in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security programs," Trump said in a video posted on Truth Social. Trump said the first part of his proposal would establish mandatory minimum sentences for people who steal from federal benefit programs, eliminating probation as an option. "If you steal from the American people,...

NEW: RFK Jr. says Medicare spending on wound care patches exploded from $200 million in 2019 to $14 billion last year: "It's all stolen." Bad actors billed Medicare billions by slapping the most expensive skin grafts on elderly and dying patients who didn't need them. "The doctors who prescribed them would get 6% of the sales cost. And so, they were incentivized to prescribe more expensive products. In Europe, they spend 35 cents a cubic inch. We were spending $135, and that went up to $2,000 a cubic inch." "So 2019, we were paying $200 million. Last year we spent...

Edward Gillen, 59, woke up one May morning last year and noticed a speck in his eye. The Massachusetts dad of four and beloved softball coach was just about the retire. Meanwhile, his sight was getting worse by the day. He desperately tried to nail down the cause quickly, but his vision loss deteriorated even faster. “It was Memorial Day weekend, and by June 1st, I was blind,” Gillen told the The U.S. Sun. After undergoing MRIs, CT scans and an exam from a neuro-opthalmologist, he got an answer. Doctors told him his vision loss was nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic...

(The Center Square) - Medicare Part D sponsors made $587.7 million in ineligible payments to pharmacies for five drugs carrying obsolete prescription-only labeling more than a year after the corresponding brand-name drugs switched to over-the-counter status, a federal watchdog found. The money won't be recovered, because the payments complied with Medicare guidance in place at the time, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, which made the finding in an audit covering calendar years 2021 through 2023. Medicare Part D, the federal prescription drug benefit, is delivered through private "sponsors," including Medicare Advantage...

Walmart is making a bigger move into healthcare, and this time it is targeting one of the largest and most valuable groups of consumers in America: Medicare beneficiaries. The retail giant is partnering with nonprofit insurer SCAN Health Plan to launch co-branded Medicare Advantage plans in two states. The plans are expected to be available to more than 2 million Medicare enrollees, pending regulatory approval. Walmart is also following a familiar name into the business. SCAN recently announced a similar Medicare partnership with Costco. That makes the trend more interesting than either deal on its own. Walmart Wants to Connect...

A new poll suggests Medicare for All could benefit Republicans in some of the country's most competitive House races, especially as progressive Democrats increasingly embrace the idea. The survey, conducted by Republican polling firm FabrizioWard on behalf of Seniors Matter for America, found that voters in battleground congressional districts would favor a Republican candidate by a 50 percent to 38 percent margin if the Democratic candidate supported replacing existing health coverage with a government-run system. The poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters across 37 House districts rated Toss Up, Lean Republican, or Lean Democrat by the Cook Political Report between August...

New changes could be coming to Medicare in 2027, which doctors say could negatively impact patient health.

Twenty-nine health systems are dropping Medicare Advantage plans in 2026, citing prior authorization denials, reimbursement issues, and deal renegotiations.A Medicare Advantage PPO card sits on top of a Medicare card, in this file photo. AP/Jenny KaneThe number of terminated contracts this year is down from 40 in 2025 and 32 in 2024, Becker's Hospital Review reported on Sept. 4.Naples Comprehensive Health, one of America's top 50 hospitals, will go out of network with Centene's Wellcare and Health Care Service Corporation's HealthSpring Medicare Advantage plans, effective in 2027."This change allows us to ensure that the plans we partner with truly support...

The Washington Post editorial board has apparently recently discovered that Social Security and Medicare are in trouble, and they are shocked, shocked, I tell you! That part is true, and there is no reason to pretend otherwise. This is a fact that anyone not living under a rock has known for a very long time. According to the 2026 Social Security Trustees Report, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is projected to exhaust its reserves in late 2032. At that point, incoming revenue would cover only about 78 percent of scheduled benefits. Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is projected...

Instead of drawing out the big mystery over how much of your money Washington wastes on improper payments, I'll just tell you right up front: In the 20 years between 2003 and 2023, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates the total money blown on payments made in error, or in the wrong amount, or with no documentation (!!!) is $2.7 TRILLION.That's a two followed by a seven followed by 11 zeroes. That's almost double what we spent last year on Medicare/Medicaid combined, or on Social Security. It's triple last year's defense budget. It's almost triple the unconscionable amount we spent...

WASHINGTON — Dem House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was dodgy Sunday about whether he backs the lefty Medicare for All plan — and if Democratic Socialists of America even belong in the party. Backlash was immediate and fierce. “This man is so out of touch with his party. How is he their leader??” grumbled Mehdi Hasan, founder of the progressive outlet Zeteo, of the New York rep, on social media. Jeffries was confronted on the multitrillion-dollar Medicare for All proposal while appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I haven’t cosponsored the Medicare for All legislation that has been introduced over...

NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker got the radical socialist running for one of Michigan’s senate seats to admit what anybody with sense could deduce about the “Medicare-for-All” scam: Everyone will have to pay for it.

Millions of Americans spend decades preparing for retirement, only to discover one of the biggest expenses isn’t housing, travel, or taxes. It’s healthcare.A new estimate from Fidelity suggests that a 65-year-old retiring today should expect to spend $185,500 on healthcare throughout retirement. That’s a 7.5% increase from last year and the steepest annual jump in more than a decade.Even more concerning, more than half of Americans approaching retirement don’t realize Medicare leaves them responsible for thousands of dollars in costs.Retirement Healthcare Costs Just Hit a New HighAccording to Fidelity’s 25th Annual Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate, a typical 65-year-old retiring...

The Trump administration is ending a key health insurance subsidy program that aimed to keep premiums for seniors' prescription drug plans in check, claiming that it benefits corporate insurance companies, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz. Medicare Part D -- the government health insurance program's prescription drug benefit -- is used by tens of millions of older or disabled beneficiaries. The program's subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, the administration announced Tuesday.

Last month we highlighted Social Security’s cumulative effect on federal deficits in the next ten years. That often surprises people who think Social Security is “paid for” through payroll taxes.What will surprise them even more: the much larger Medicare effect on federal deficits over the next decade.You might ask yourself: don’t people pay for Medicare with payroll taxes when they work or with monthly premiums when they retire?They do. And payroll taxes do cover almost all of Part A’s expenditures. But it is written into law that three-quarters of Parts B and D are explicitly subsidized by taxpayers. The Medicare...

Left-wing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed supports universal health care through a single-payer "Medicare for All" system that would cover every American "from cradle to grave." His wife, psychiatrist Sarah Jukaku, does not take Medicare or any other insurance plan, forcing her patients to pay out of pocket for the services they receive. She also appears to have scrubbed a portion of the "Frequently Asked Questions" page on her website making clear that she does not accept insurance. Jukaku, who has a medical degree from Columbia University and a masters from the University of Oxford, worked as co-chief of psychiatry...

Medicare and Medicaid are losing billions of taxpayer dollars to criminals because they can’t keep pace with their high-tech scams, a Post investigation has found. International criminal networks employ hackers who steal sensitive patient data then sell it on the dark web or use it to then bill for fake medical equipment or services in people’s names. Scammers even use AI voice bots to coax info out of seniors on the phone, posing as US healthcare workers, often from thousands of miles away in Europe or Asia. They use the same techniques on the insurance companies, with one Philippines-based outfit...

Six people have been charged in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid involving a doctor and other medical professionals issuing medically unnecessary prescriptions to a pharmacist in exchange for cash kickbacks. The defendants allegedly caused a loss of about $20,684,264 to Medicare and Medicaid. The following individuals were charged by Information in the District of New Jersey on July 7, 2026 and appeared before Judge Karen M. Williams in federal district court in Camden in connection with the scheme: * Sherif Elmasri, 45, of Morganville, New Jersey, pled guilty to a two-count Information charging him with...