One large health system with hospitals in Virginia and Ohio this year cut off in-network access to consumers enrolled in some Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare and Medicaid health insurance plans.
Hospitals, doctors drop private Medicare plans over payment disputes
Related:
Vanderbilt Health to drop some Medicare Advantage plans
H/T: Christopher Westfall | Senior Savings Network (this is not an endorsement)
Medicare Advantage was supposed to be a money-saver. It’s now become a costly, unaccountable cash cow for private insurance companies that is swallowing traditional Medicare.
The Dark History of Medicare Privatization
Related:
Medicare goes “woke”?! 😉
CMS Unveils ACO REACH: What you Need to Know
The Geo Direct Contracting model is scrapped, and ACO REACH is replacing GPDC…
A new incentive will help to address health equity.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance companies are licensees, independent of the association and traditionally of each other, offering insurance plans within defined regions under one or both of the association’s brands. Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers offer some form of health insurance coverage in every U.S. state. They also act as administrators of Medicare in many states or regions of the U.S.
Sean Penn’s Disaster-Relief Charity Ended Up a Money Mess
Related:
CORE Labor violations and complaints
CORE staff complained that they were forced to work 18-hour days, six days a week, without the opportunity to take breaks. Responding to the staff concerns, Penn excoriated the employees, writing in an email that “in every cell of my body is a vitriol for the way your actions reflect so harmfully upon your brothers and sisters in arms”. Penn suggested that employees leave their work instead of complaining about conditions.[16] In October 2021, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint that Penn and CORE violated federal labor law. According to the charge, Penn “impliedly threatened” his employees with reprisals.[17] A 2021 California lawsuit sought civil damages, claiming that CORE failed o pay overtime and minimum wges, provide rest periods, reimburse for business expenses, provide detailed wage statements, and timely pay employees. [18]
In 2022, a former CORE worker who provided support during COVID relief efforts in Georgia sued CORE for unpaid wages. According to the complaint, CORE deliberately misclassified staff as contractors to avoid paying overtime. CORE’s contracts require binding arbitration, which prevents a collective action by multiple employees and keeps the proceedings private.
What if hospitals and health insurance companies like UnitedHealth Group, Anthem, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, and others were actually honest about how horrifically terrible they are? Roger Horton investigates.
If Healthcare Was Honest | Honest Ads
Many of the nation’s largest health insurance companies have made billions of dollars in profits by overbilling the U.S. government’s Medicare Advantage program. A New York Times investigation has revealed that under the Advantage program, health insurance companies are incentivized to make patients appear more ill than they actually are. Some estimates find it has cost the government between $12 billion and $25 billion in 2020 alone. We speak with former healthcare insurance executive Wendell Potter, now president of the Center for Health and Democracy, who says Medicare Advantage will be recognized in years to come as the “biggest transfer of wealth” from taxpayers to corporate shareholders, and blames the lack of regulation over the program on the “revolving door between private industry and government.”
Health Insurance Whistleblower: Medicare Advantage Is “Heist” by Private Firms to Defraud the Public
Related:
‘The Cash Monster Was Insatiable’: How Insurers Exploited Medicare for Billions (archived)
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
You must be logged in to post a comment.