Medicare For All Explained

Why Doesn’t the Government Provide the Same Help to People Who Are Denied Care?

This is episode 94, “Why Doesn’t the Government Provide the Same Help to People Who Are Denied Care?”

Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks asks why the government doesn’t provide the same quick help to people who are denied care by health insurance companies as it did to the Silicon Valley Bank depositors. 

Fifty Years of Failure

This is episode 93, “Fifty Years of Failure.”

Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks discusses how the HMO Act of 1973 led to fifty years of failure and caused the U.S. to end up with the most expensive healthcare system in the world while having the worst overall health outcomes of wealthy nations.

 

More on ACO REACH and Why We Need to End It

This is episode 92, “More on ACO REACH and Why We Need to End It.”

My guest is Ed Weisbart, MD, and he explains some basics about ACO REACH, why we need to end it, how to end it, why it is a threat to seniors and Medicare, and why we should be optimistic about working to end REACH.  

Dr. Weisbart is a retired family physician, the national board secretary of Physicians for a National Health Program, and president of Consumers Council of Missouri.

He received his medical degree at the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1979, and completed his family medicine residency and a fellowship in family medicine education at Michigan State University in 1982.

Do not miss this episode as Dr. Weisbart explains why ACO REACH is a threat to seniors and Medicare, and why we need to end REACH.

For information on how to end ACO REACH and protect Medicare, here is the link for ProtectMedicare.net. 

End ACO REACH

This is episode 91, “End ACO REACH.”

In this episode, I discuss why we need to end the Medicare ACO REACH program. ACO REACH or REACH is a program that transfers people from traditional Medicare to private health insurance.  

ACO is an acronym for “Accountable Care Organization” and REACH is an acronym for “Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health.”

Do not miss this episode as I discuss why REACH is bad for individuals and the nation. 

The Free Market Cannot Solve Every Problem

This is episode 90, “The Free Market Cannot Solve Every Problem.”

In this episode, I discuss why a free-market healthcare system will not solve the problems in U.S. health care. 

I reference the following video in this episode: Single-Payer: The ONLY Fix to the For-Profit Private Insurance SCAM!

There are three people in the above video. The main two are MSNBC hosts Ali Velshi and Lawerence O’Donnell. The third is Rep. Jim Jordan who is briefly seen and heard, and whose false statements are quickly refuted.

Do not miss this episode as I discuss why the free market is a market failure in health care, and why the free market cannot fix health care in the U.S.

The Security Threat of Our Current Healthcare System

This is episode 89, “The Security Threat of Our Current Healthcare System.”

We would demand action if a foreign adversary caused more than 76,000 deaths like the current U.S. healthcare system does. However, we continue to allow these deaths. We need to take action to end the carnage.

 

Why We Need Single-Payer Medicare for All in the United States

This is episode 88, “Why We Need Single-Payer Medicare for All in the United States.”

Do not miss this episode as I discuss some important reasons why we need Medicare for All.

The Illogic and Fraud of Medicare Advantage Plans

This is episode 87, “The Illogic and Fraud of Medicare Advantage Plans.” 

Do not miss this episode as I discuss Medicare Advantage fraud and why the reasons for starting Medicare Advantage made no sense.

Here are links for the articles that I referenced in this podcast.

‘The Cash Monster Was Insatiable’: How Insurers Exploited Medicare for Billions (October 8, 2022)

Medicare Advantage Plans Often Deny Needed Care, Federal Report Finds (April 28, 2022)

Here are the links for the podcast episodes that I referenced in this podcast:

Link for all episodes: https://medicareforallexplained.org/episodes/

Episode 57: What You Need To Know About Medicare, Medigap, Medicare (Dis)Advantage, And How Medicare for All Benefits Seniors, Part 1 (June 1, 2021)

Episode 58: What You Need To Know About Medicare, Medigap, Medicare (Dis)Advantage, and How Medicare for All Benefits Seniors, Part 2 (June 15, 2021)

Episode 86: Medicare: A Complicated Mess (October 1, 2022)

 

Medicare: A Complicated Mess

This is episode 86, “Medicare: A Complicated Mess.” 

In this episode, I discuss why Medicare is a complicated mess, how to make it better, and why single-payer Medicare for All would be better for seniors and everyone else.

Do not miss this episode as I discuss why Medicare is complicated and how to make it better.

The Medicare handbook can be found here: “Medicare & You 2023.”

Here are the links for problems with Medicare Advantage plans:

As Seniors Get Sicker, They're More Likely To Drop Medicare Advantage Plans (July 5, 2017)

Patients in poor health leave Medicare Advantage plans (July 11, 2017)

Medicare Advantage Spends Less on Care, So Why Is It Costing So Much? (August 7, 2017)

CMS is giving unfair competitive advantage to private Medicare Advantage plans (April 5, 2018)

Medicare Advantage Plans Found to Improperly Deny Many Claims (Oct 13, 2018)

Medicare Advantage plans profit by wholesale denial of legitimate claims (October 18, 2019)

Even Researchers Don’t Know Which Doctors Medicare Advantage Covers (July 8, 2019)

Insurers Running Medicare Advantage Plans Overbill Taxpayers By Billions As Feds Struggle To Stop It (July 16, 2019)

Medicare Advantage Enrollees Discover Dirty Little Secret (Dec 3, 2019)

U.S. Watchdog Finds $6.7 Billion in Questionable Medicare Payments to Insurers (Dec 12, 2019)

Fraud Is Rampant in Medicare Advantage (Mar 13, 2021)

Medicare Advantage Plans Often Deny Needed Care, Federal Report Finds (April 28, 2022)

Government Watchdogs Attack Medicare Advantage for Denying Care and Overcharging (June 29, 2022)

 

The American Healthcare Mess

This is episode 85, “The American Healthcare Mess.” 

My guest, Gilbert Simon, MD, wrote “Ripped Off!: Overtested, Overtreated and Overcharged, the American Healthcare Mess.” In 1989, Dr. Simon founded the Sacramento Family Medical Clinics to care for people who had trouble affording and getting quality healthcare. 

Before he founded his medical clinics, Dr. Simon was a pediatrician, and taught at Columbia University, University of California Davis School of Medicine, and California Northstate University School of Medicine. 

Do not miss this episode as Dr. Simon discusses the waste, inefficiency and profiteering that currently exists in the American healthcare system.

Correction: Dr. Simon said that we are “spending about 12 and a half dollars per capita” on health care. The correct figure is 12 and a half thousand dollars per capita.