Free Republic

Joe Biden's re-election campaign is repeating the naked lie, over and over again, that President Trump wants to cut elderly people's Social Security and Medicare. Some of those elderly voters believe him, as recent polling has shown. But he's already played Mr. Slasher on Medicare Advantage, the immensely popular supplemental health insurance program favored by more than half of seniors, and he plans to cut it more. Democrats hate this program because it allows its buyers choice in what kind of coverage they would like to have on their policies. According to an important op-ed on RedState from the Heartland...

We all know life has gotten more expensive lately… but has anything provided more sticker shock than healthcare? Health insurance premiums rose 7% last year. Medical costs are expected to rise 7% this year after increasing 6% last year. And I’ve exclaimed “What?! That can’t be right!” after receiving a medical bill or checking out at the pharmacy more times than I can count. Yet my doctor friends claim they make less money and spend more time doing insurance paperwork than ever before. I felt bad that one of my physician friends recently had to spend time fighting with my...

President Biden taunted former president Donald Trump Saturday for his evening high-dollar fundraiser — dissing the “bunch of hedge fund billionaires” who were gathering in Florida to support him. “This campaign is Scranton versus Palm Beach,” Biden said in a video posted to X. “Folks, you know Trump is down in Florida today raising money from a bunch of hedge fund billionaires who want him to cut Social Security and Medicare and their taxes,” he claimed in the 54-second clip.

Shares of U.S. health insurers fell after the Biden administration didn't boost payments for private Medicare plans as much as the insurance industry and investors had hoped...The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services late Monday said that government payments to Medicare Advantage plans are expected to rise 3.7% year over year...That is effectively a 0.16% decline after stripping out certain assumptions baked into that rate, according to insurers and analysts.

President Joe Biden campaigned on protecting Social Security and has slammed what he calls Republican efforts to gut the program through sunsetting, increasing the retirement age and reducing benefits. But the president has nearly a half-century of history dating to at least 1975 of voting or advocating for many of the same attacks on Social Security that he now warns could come from a Republican takeover — and both his historical record and current policies will affect today’s younger generations as they age into the program.

Former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden issued opposing views on the future of Social Security on Monday. While Trump suggested the possibility of cutting “entitlements” on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Biden issued a 2025 budget proposal that states, “No benefit cuts.”

Claim: President Joe Biden during Thursday’s State of the Union address claimed that he would stop “anyone” who tries to cut Medicare. Verdict: False. Biden is actively moving to cut Medicare Advantage, an increasingly popular Medicare option for American seniors. Biden trotted out the tired rhetorical line that Republicans seek to slash Medicare and Social Security, two popular entitlement programs: Imagine a future with home care and elder care so seniors and people living with disabilities can stay in their homes and family caregivers get paid what they deserve! Tonight, let’s all agree once again to stand up for seniors!

Social Security and Medicare are underfunded by $175 trillion. The nightmare arrives. In 2014 I published my first book while I was in Hong Kong. This book focused on the insane policies of the Obama/Biden regime and offered solutions that were working overseas. The biggest problem on the table was the massive amount of unfunded liabilities that were being created under the Biden regime. Below is what I wrote at that time (pp. 23-24). Even more alarming than the US’s annual deficits or federal debt burden is the amount of its unfunded liabilities. Unfunded liabilities are financial promises made with...

Medicare and Social Security are in crisis and face significant challenges according a report from the U.S. Treasury Department which indicates the programs are both underfunded to the tune of a $175 trillion. The report suggests that if the current trends continue the programs may not be around when the current generation of American children reach retirement age unless substantial changes are implemented. Projections suggest that Medicare and Social Security may struggle to meet full benefit obligations within the next decade, with factors like inflation and economic output adding strain due to insufficient funds coming in to support these programs....

Jim Biden used Joe Biden's name in his efforts to back Americore.. least three .. relatives were employed by the medical company .. Americore, a healthcare company that has been accused in $100million Medicare fraud case, revealed that Jim used his brother's clout as vice president to advance the company. Jim worked as a consultant for Americore in 2017 after his brother served eight years as vice president. Former executives from Americore .. that Jim had also planned for Joe to serve on the board and suggested his brother could promote the company during a future presidential run ... Jim...

How can Humana change the coverage after the patient is admitted? I logged into the indiviual account and printed the "My Benefits" in November when a close friend was hospitalized for a severe stroke. I have full medical and legal POA. The "Plan Benefits" showed FULL PAYMENT Coverage for skilled nursing through day 100. While she was admitted, they changed her plan to only cover 80% through day 100. With a $203 per day co-pay, that is a lot of money she doesn't have. How can they change the plan during continuous admission? In addition, they keep denying any payment...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bipartisan legislation to create a commission charged with taming the $34 trillion U.S. national debt is set to advance this week in a House of Representatives panel, as lawmakers battle over federal spending. The House Budget Committee on Tuesday said it will hold a work session at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT) on Thursday to debate and potentially vote on the "Fiscal Commission Act of 2023," just weeks after Washington's total public debt breached the $34 trillion mark, putting it at more than 122% of GDP. Backers of the bill hope it could help make the national debt...

Healthcare, as much as the left hates to admit it, is a market item, like any other good or service. Until the mid-20th century, the provision of healthcare was like any other business; you went to the doctor, you paid him, and that was that. Granted, now modern, high-tech medicine is more expensive, and there is therefore a market for health insurance to spread that cost out. That, too, is a market item. When the government meddles in markets, they almost always screw it up. The Biden administration has never and will never learn this lesson; now, in the latest...

A new study has confirmed the effectiveness of JAK inhibitors in treating rheumatoid arthritis. The Japanese multicenter, retrospective study found high remission and low disease activity rates among patients, with the majority continuing treatment. This success highlights the potential of JAK inhibitors as a favorable alternative to conventional treatments, which often lead to reduced effectiveness and discomfort over time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A new study published in the journal Rheumatology reveals that JAK inhibitors, commonly used to treat arthritis patients, are indeed effective. Despite initial concerns about their effectiveness, this multicenter, retrospective study conducted by Japanese researchers has shown impressive remission rates...

I need some advice. I am 67 years old and in a little over a Month I will be having my right shoulder replaced. I am actively enrolled in Medical-Care for health care, but not in any prescription policies. However, I need to figure out which prescription policy would be best for me before I have the surgery. As of right now I have no current prescriptions for anything. Until I began having shoulder problems I have not even seen a general practitioner for over 10 years. Other than my shoulder problem I am healthy as an ox, or at...

While Social Security is set to increase by 3.2 percent in 2024, many seniors are worried about how the limited inflation adjustment will keep them afloat. In a new report from Atticus, a majority of seniors voiced dissatisfaction with the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2024. In total, 62 percent of the 400 Americans over the age of 62 in the survey said they were unhappy with the payment bump. "About that 3.2 percent COLA increase for 2024, well, it sounds good on paper, but, honestly, it's not quite cutting it for seniors," Christopher Hensley, financial adviser and the president of...

Baqar Hussain Razv Syed, the owner of Luna Labs out of Schaumburg, is accused of filing millions of dollars' worth of false Medicare claims for allegedly providing COVID-19 test kits to beneficiaries across the country who said they had never requested or ordered such tests. Another posted complaint from July reads, "Never heard of this lab before receiving notice from Medicare that Luna Labs had billed them twice for Covid Test that I didn't order or authorize Luna Labs to do that and for tests I never received. They got paid $94, twice, for two separate claims...

Retired Americans enrolled in Medicare's Part D prescription coverage could see their premiums increase by 42-57 percent in 2024, a new analysis by HealthView Services has found.Early indicators show significant cost hikes for retirees in the five states with the largest senior populations. This is different from an earlier report projecting slight premium declines across Part D plans next year.(zimmytws/Shutterstock)Major Discrepancy in Premium OutlooksThe HealthView report, published in November 2023, contrasts sharply with a July projection by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency that administers the Medicare program, The CMS said there would be a 1.8...

Medicare Advantage provides health coverage to more than half of the nation's seniors, but a growing number of hospitals and health systems nationwide are pushing back and dropping some or all contracts with the private plans altogether. Among the most commonly cited reasons are excessive prior authorization denial rates and slow payments from insurers. Some systems have noted that most MA carriers have faced allegations of billing fraud from the federal government and are being probed by lawmakers over their high denial rates. "It's become a game of delay, deny and not pay,'' Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of...

In North Carolina, lawmakers outraged that breast cancer patients were being denied reconstructive surgeries passed a measure forcing health insurers to pay for them. In Arizona, legislators intervened to protect patients with diabetes, requiring health plans to cover their supplies. Elected officials in more than a dozen states, from Oklahoma to California, wrote laws demanding that insurance companies pay for emergency services. Over the last four decades, states have enacted hundreds of laws dictating precisely what insurers must cover so that consumers aren’t driven into debt or forced to go without medicines or procedures. But health plans have violated these...