As a physician seeing seniors on a daily basis who are suffering under these plans, I couldn't agree more. But we must recognize that as we speak Joe Biden is overseeing the largest Medicare Advantage rate hike in history, and Obama's ACA shifted millions of seniors into Medicare Advantage programs. So it wasn't just a "few corporate Democrats" who went along with the scam, it was and is Democratic Party leadership. It does seem incredible that while Bush tried to assist Wall Street in absconding with seniors' Social Security benefits, both parties have subsequently helped their corporate donors by laundering Social Security benefits through our government to the health insurance conglomerates. Which is why while you insist on shielding Democrats from authentic criticism, I find it imperative that we realistically assess their malfeasance and call them out loudly and persistently. Just because Republicans are so awful and Democrats are "better" doesn't mean that Democrats aren't playing the 80/20 donor/electorate game, the "incrementalism" that reinforces the relativistic liberal mantra "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."
So right on! The Democrats aren't even a choice, when you get down to it. We are all trapped in this web of lies that the Democratic and Republican parties have woven, all in the service of their corporate billionaire masters. Many European countries have far superior democracies to ours because of the parliamentary system, where many parties have to hash out agreements that take all concerns into account inn order to form a government, and as we saw with Boris Johnson recently, there are ways of getting rid of useless leaders who are not in the service of the national interest. I think it should be back to the drawing board with many aspects of our constitution.
Agreed. We are on the margins because liberals are too afraid to tell the truth and somehow think protecting Democrats to help them win elections is the answer. This just enables Democrats to do all manner of horrendous things that are somehow acceptable because they are not as horrendous as what Republicans do. The suffering I see every day is largely because of Democrats and their "compromises" with Republicans, the ACA being Exhibit A for the Democratic Party's embrace of conservative public policy with predictably bad results. Our institutions need an overhaul, but Democrats insist they just require a little tweaking, and they would never dare to question the Constitution, instead climbing all over each other to assure us how faithful they are to that bastion of freedom The Second Amendment.
Of course, that is the only answer at this point. And it's Bernie's plan that I would really endorse. Unfortunately, the ACA has brought us further from this transition by placing Medicare and employer-based health insurance firmly in the grasp of the health care conglomerates.
Well, why couldn't you just say so, without "horrendous things" and whatever that was about the 2d Amendment? Libs at the time agreed that the ACA was a labrynthine monster to get anything - anything! done to help out citizens in trouble in the face of the bullying drumbeat: "commiecommiecommie." But people have been helped. Now we have the defenestrated hint at "Build Back Better," shorn of reform of the carried interest loophole. But Dems (probably)(see how the weekend goes) will manage to do some vestige of good.
First, Thom, I’m sorry for your loss. You GIVE so much to your readers. So take your time.
Now to respond to this article - I preach vigorously AGAINST Medicare Advantage. I did, hesitantly buy into it one year - then received yet another dire diagnosis of breast cancer. Thankfully I wasn’t denied the best care at a breast center considered one of the best in the country. I did however have to pay for the prosthetic - a relatively small loss. But I already had a liver disease that would ultimately end in transplant. And I was able to transfer to a far more aggressive and MUCH BETTER liver transplant center - Cleveland Clinic. In other words, I survived and still doing quite well 6 years post. I warn my neighbors and friends about this scam of Med Advantage. Thank you for covering this topic!
Please accept my deepest sympathies, Thom. I lost my little brother a few years ago and it was very painful. Thank you for all that you do. I wish that you were the mouthpiece for the Democratic party so that the truth you tell could reach a wider audience. In fact, I wish we could be shed of this two-party system altogether and we could have at least a few alternatives for which the Truth is an actual concern, because it ain't the Dems and it sure as hell ain't the Repuglicans.
You have a life to live too. We, I, one of your subscribers, think you are entitled to "personal leave" time at your discretion. Best wishes for you and your family for the loss of your brother. Keep up the much appreciated work you do.
Aug 8, 2022·edited Aug 8, 2022Liked by Thom Hartmann
Our government’s Medicare/CMS is soliciting comments from citizens about what the future of Medicare “Advantage” (MA) should become. One of your Friday FSTV program’s callers gave his website name where he had posted a link to where people can both read the government’s “Request for Information” AND give their comments about MA. Here is the where anyone can go directly into the government site, read the “RFI” document, and write comments. This request will close at the end of August:
I hope everyone reading Thom’s essay can take this opportunity to write their comments about the future of Medicare and MA. Our government wants to hear from us!
What a scam/entrapment. I look back to my appendix surgery in Great Britain in 1964. My parents asked about a bill to pay, they had American health insurance. The hands-on health-carers laughed: there wasn't a billing office, or person, or the cost of the paper for a bill. Sometimes it's embarrassing to be American, like, we're the slightly retarded cousins who pretend to be part of "Western Civilization."
So sorry to read of your loss Thom. You have a very understanding following and please take all the time you need with your family. Family first! I agree with your article that advertising for advantage plans must change. It should be truthful and easy to understand for our seniors. I'll be writing my reps to make this change.
Similar to a car lot renaming to General Motors. I vote "NO CONFIDENCE" in double standards and sell outs who slime about in the political swamp. Who rape and pillaging BY LAW, it is NOT we the people who rule, it is greed.
What is striking about this particular summer-read/political hit-job from the left flank (one snowflake in the blizzard) is not the apparent veracity of its content. (I haven't double-checked the sourcing, but at first glance it seems about right.) Nor is it all that shocking, frightening, maddening, and depressing as it once may have been, and should be still, that we have a dysfunctional healthcare system crafted by politicians in the pocket of Wall Street's biggest, meanest donors operating forever in the shadows of our horribly dysfunctional pay-to-play plutocracy/kakistocracy.
You don't say. Well, add it to the long list of shit.
No, what is truly amazing is all the Biden bashing from every corner this close to such a pivotal, history-changing election -- one that's really not about him, even though the entire lie-o-sphere on the right and certain true-blue elements on the left are wishing and hoping it to be so. By detracting from the main point and dissipating the energy of THIS election, consciously or not, armchair pundits and no doubt well-meaning people are displaying a defeatist attitude in the best tradition of the mushy politics of useful idiots used to losing, playing into the hands of a ruthless victor, too often a Republican looney tune long-divorced from truth.
At least the hearts, if not always the heads, of progressive liberals are mostly in the right place. Maybe now, though, is not the best time to commence their usual circular firing squad -- in the face of a full frontal attack by the true "enemies" of democrats and democracy (blood enemies according to the CPAC "fascists" in Dallas).
Why not give Biden and the Democratic Party credit for their long list of impressive wins (considering a 50/50 Senate, two contrarian Democrats, a pandemic, a land war in Europe, worldwide inflation, and runaway climate destruction) going into election season? Is that so hard?
Then, come out in hordes and give liberals a solid majority, or at least a more powerful caucus to work with, and against, the more establishment types. That favorable outcome would be the right time to air all the dirty laundry, when something constructive can actually be done about it. Perhaps after the Republican Party withers on the vine (God, Please!), the Democrats could split into the two major parties or even create a more functional parliamentary system with several parties that are more responsive to the people, forcing pragmatic coalitions.
Until we can rid our nation of undemocratic notions, such as the filibuster, the Electoral College, gerrymandering, and concentrated money in politics, small-d democrats and their party of democracy will need to find ways to put petty differences aside for a later, more opportune time for proper resolution and stick together when it counts. Show a united front against an implacable enemy.
"You pays your money and you takes your choice." America rejected Bernie and chose an establishment guy. But blaming Biden for the Medicare mess is like blaming him for losing the Afghanistan war because he had the good sense at long last to pull America out of yet another endless, unwinnable military misadventure in a distant foreign land, started for all the wrong reasons.
Yeah, Biden sure ain't Bernie. But, like Bernie, he is someone you can work with to bend the moral arc in the right direction. And he is still universes better than your typical conniving Republican liars and traitors to democracy, scheming with filthy rich bastards for all the power and privilege while workers and their families beg for crumbs.
Medicare, like most big policies birthed in raw political turmoil, is the culmination of a bipartisan nightmare of greed that goes back decades if not eons. Biden is just the latest in a long string of hapless politicians left holding the bag. Single-payer, universal Medicare-for-all, which is NOT poked full of holes to make the few rich and paid for by a progressive tax system (medicine not war), is the only way to go. Of course it is. We all know it.
But... Ain't never gonna happen in a country run by millionaires and billionaires! To realize the fundamental changes needed in our election system, healthcare, education, climate mitigation, the economy, war, unregulated greed, and everything else worth a damn and screaming for attention, the average American dummy needs to wake-the-hell-up, vote Democratic, and give true progressives and truthtellers the reins of power up and down tickets in every election everywhere in large enough majorities to get shit done. The stakes are way too high! Literally, in more ways than one, we're at a do-or-die stage of history, maybe the last one.
The policy wonks and backroom brainiacs can work out the details later; right now, the ship is taking on water fast, and it's all hands on deck! Democracy itself is under attack! If we go under, what good are all the hopes and dreams of a more perfect union? It's game over, man.
As a physician seeing seniors on a daily basis who are suffering under these plans, I couldn't agree more. But we must recognize that as we speak Joe Biden is overseeing the largest Medicare Advantage rate hike in history, and Obama's ACA shifted millions of seniors into Medicare Advantage programs. So it wasn't just a "few corporate Democrats" who went along with the scam, it was and is Democratic Party leadership. It does seem incredible that while Bush tried to assist Wall Street in absconding with seniors' Social Security benefits, both parties have subsequently helped their corporate donors by laundering Social Security benefits through our government to the health insurance conglomerates. Which is why while you insist on shielding Democrats from authentic criticism, I find it imperative that we realistically assess their malfeasance and call them out loudly and persistently. Just because Republicans are so awful and Democrats are "better" doesn't mean that Democrats aren't playing the 80/20 donor/electorate game, the "incrementalism" that reinforces the relativistic liberal mantra "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."
So right on! The Democrats aren't even a choice, when you get down to it. We are all trapped in this web of lies that the Democratic and Republican parties have woven, all in the service of their corporate billionaire masters. Many European countries have far superior democracies to ours because of the parliamentary system, where many parties have to hash out agreements that take all concerns into account inn order to form a government, and as we saw with Boris Johnson recently, there are ways of getting rid of useless leaders who are not in the service of the national interest. I think it should be back to the drawing board with many aspects of our constitution.
Agreed. We are on the margins because liberals are too afraid to tell the truth and somehow think protecting Democrats to help them win elections is the answer. This just enables Democrats to do all manner of horrendous things that are somehow acceptable because they are not as horrendous as what Republicans do. The suffering I see every day is largely because of Democrats and their "compromises" with Republicans, the ACA being Exhibit A for the Democratic Party's embrace of conservative public policy with predictably bad results. Our institutions need an overhaul, but Democrats insist they just require a little tweaking, and they would never dare to question the Constitution, instead climbing all over each other to assure us how faithful they are to that bastion of freedom The Second Amendment.
You know, I really try to figure out your threads of thought. I gather from this that you endorse Bernie and Liz's Single Payer plan?
Of course, that is the only answer at this point. And it's Bernie's plan that I would really endorse. Unfortunately, the ACA has brought us further from this transition by placing Medicare and employer-based health insurance firmly in the grasp of the health care conglomerates.
Well, why couldn't you just say so, without "horrendous things" and whatever that was about the 2d Amendment? Libs at the time agreed that the ACA was a labrynthine monster to get anything - anything! done to help out citizens in trouble in the face of the bullying drumbeat: "commiecommiecommie." But people have been helped. Now we have the defenestrated hint at "Build Back Better," shorn of reform of the carried interest loophole. But Dems (probably)(see how the weekend goes) will manage to do some vestige of good.
But not to the drawing board Thom explicated a few days ago. Surely?
First, Thom, I’m sorry for your loss. You GIVE so much to your readers. So take your time.
Now to respond to this article - I preach vigorously AGAINST Medicare Advantage. I did, hesitantly buy into it one year - then received yet another dire diagnosis of breast cancer. Thankfully I wasn’t denied the best care at a breast center considered one of the best in the country. I did however have to pay for the prosthetic - a relatively small loss. But I already had a liver disease that would ultimately end in transplant. And I was able to transfer to a far more aggressive and MUCH BETTER liver transplant center - Cleveland Clinic. In other words, I survived and still doing quite well 6 years post. I warn my neighbors and friends about this scam of Med Advantage. Thank you for covering this topic!
Thank you Thom, I know we all understand and appreciate everything you and your team does. Just know my thoughts are with you.
Please accept my deepest sympathies, Thom. I lost my little brother a few years ago and it was very painful. Thank you for all that you do. I wish that you were the mouthpiece for the Democratic party so that the truth you tell could reach a wider audience. In fact, I wish we could be shed of this two-party system altogether and we could have at least a few alternatives for which the Truth is an actual concern, because it ain't the Dems and it sure as hell ain't the Repuglicans.
Thom,
You have a life to live too. We, I, one of your subscribers, think you are entitled to "personal leave" time at your discretion. Best wishes for you and your family for the loss of your brother. Keep up the much appreciated work you do.
My heartfelt condolences to you and your family Thom. Thank you again for all your hard work.
Our government’s Medicare/CMS is soliciting comments from citizens about what the future of Medicare “Advantage” (MA) should become. One of your Friday FSTV program’s callers gave his website name where he had posted a link to where people can both read the government’s “Request for Information” AND give their comments about MA. Here is the where anyone can go directly into the government site, read the “RFI” document, and write comments. This request will close at the end of August:
https://www.regulations.gov/document/CMS-2022-0123-0001
I hope everyone reading Thom’s essay can take this opportunity to write their comments about the future of Medicare and MA. Our government wants to hear from us!
Here's another link to the same place
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/08/01/2022-16463/medicare-program-request-for-information-on-medicare
I appreciate the, "head's up" and hold prayerful thoughts for your loss, Thom.
What a scam/entrapment. I look back to my appendix surgery in Great Britain in 1964. My parents asked about a bill to pay, they had American health insurance. The hands-on health-carers laughed: there wasn't a billing office, or person, or the cost of the paper for a bill. Sometimes it's embarrassing to be American, like, we're the slightly retarded cousins who pretend to be part of "Western Civilization."
I hope your gathering soothes your soul. Thom. Blessings to you and yours.
So sorry to read of your loss Thom. You have a very understanding following and please take all the time you need with your family. Family first! I agree with your article that advertising for advantage plans must change. It should be truthful and easy to understand for our seniors. I'll be writing my reps to make this change.
Similar to a car lot renaming to General Motors. I vote "NO CONFIDENCE" in double standards and sell outs who slime about in the political swamp. Who rape and pillaging BY LAW, it is NOT we the people who rule, it is greed.
"Biden enforces largest Medicare premium hike in history while funneling more profits to private insurers" https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/06/03/cwht-j03.html
What is striking about this particular summer-read/political hit-job from the left flank (one snowflake in the blizzard) is not the apparent veracity of its content. (I haven't double-checked the sourcing, but at first glance it seems about right.) Nor is it all that shocking, frightening, maddening, and depressing as it once may have been, and should be still, that we have a dysfunctional healthcare system crafted by politicians in the pocket of Wall Street's biggest, meanest donors operating forever in the shadows of our horribly dysfunctional pay-to-play plutocracy/kakistocracy.
You don't say. Well, add it to the long list of shit.
No, what is truly amazing is all the Biden bashing from every corner this close to such a pivotal, history-changing election -- one that's really not about him, even though the entire lie-o-sphere on the right and certain true-blue elements on the left are wishing and hoping it to be so. By detracting from the main point and dissipating the energy of THIS election, consciously or not, armchair pundits and no doubt well-meaning people are displaying a defeatist attitude in the best tradition of the mushy politics of useful idiots used to losing, playing into the hands of a ruthless victor, too often a Republican looney tune long-divorced from truth.
At least the hearts, if not always the heads, of progressive liberals are mostly in the right place. Maybe now, though, is not the best time to commence their usual circular firing squad -- in the face of a full frontal attack by the true "enemies" of democrats and democracy (blood enemies according to the CPAC "fascists" in Dallas).
Why not give Biden and the Democratic Party credit for their long list of impressive wins (considering a 50/50 Senate, two contrarian Democrats, a pandemic, a land war in Europe, worldwide inflation, and runaway climate destruction) going into election season? Is that so hard?
Then, come out in hordes and give liberals a solid majority, or at least a more powerful caucus to work with, and against, the more establishment types. That favorable outcome would be the right time to air all the dirty laundry, when something constructive can actually be done about it. Perhaps after the Republican Party withers on the vine (God, Please!), the Democrats could split into the two major parties or even create a more functional parliamentary system with several parties that are more responsive to the people, forcing pragmatic coalitions.
Until we can rid our nation of undemocratic notions, such as the filibuster, the Electoral College, gerrymandering, and concentrated money in politics, small-d democrats and their party of democracy will need to find ways to put petty differences aside for a later, more opportune time for proper resolution and stick together when it counts. Show a united front against an implacable enemy.
"You pays your money and you takes your choice." America rejected Bernie and chose an establishment guy. But blaming Biden for the Medicare mess is like blaming him for losing the Afghanistan war because he had the good sense at long last to pull America out of yet another endless, unwinnable military misadventure in a distant foreign land, started for all the wrong reasons.
Yeah, Biden sure ain't Bernie. But, like Bernie, he is someone you can work with to bend the moral arc in the right direction. And he is still universes better than your typical conniving Republican liars and traitors to democracy, scheming with filthy rich bastards for all the power and privilege while workers and their families beg for crumbs.
Medicare, like most big policies birthed in raw political turmoil, is the culmination of a bipartisan nightmare of greed that goes back decades if not eons. Biden is just the latest in a long string of hapless politicians left holding the bag. Single-payer, universal Medicare-for-all, which is NOT poked full of holes to make the few rich and paid for by a progressive tax system (medicine not war), is the only way to go. Of course it is. We all know it.
But... Ain't never gonna happen in a country run by millionaires and billionaires! To realize the fundamental changes needed in our election system, healthcare, education, climate mitigation, the economy, war, unregulated greed, and everything else worth a damn and screaming for attention, the average American dummy needs to wake-the-hell-up, vote Democratic, and give true progressives and truthtellers the reins of power up and down tickets in every election everywhere in large enough majorities to get shit done. The stakes are way too high! Literally, in more ways than one, we're at a do-or-die stage of history, maybe the last one.
The policy wonks and backroom brainiacs can work out the details later; right now, the ship is taking on water fast, and it's all hands on deck! Democracy itself is under attack! If we go under, what good are all the hopes and dreams of a more perfect union? It's game over, man.
Heart to heart with you and your family in your loss. Peace and love.