Below are additional resources to help you better understand the issue and hopefully join PSARA in taking action to protect Medicare.  

 

PSARA Webinars/Presentations:

• Is Medicare Advantage Driving Your Providers to Despair? And Why You Should Care.  Insurance companies may be forcing your doctor into a crises of conscience, learn more through this Webinar.

• "Fear & Loathing on the Way to Levelingthe Playing Field” Five National experts discuss PSARA’s strategy to Level the Medicare Playing field.

• "Is Medicare Advantage Preying on People of Color” PSARA’s December 4, 2023 Webinar Featuring Dr. Claudia Fegan

• "Stop Raiding Medicare" Rally Aug 1, 2023 Highlights video 

• "Pirates of the Medicaribbean” Slides presented by PSARA members Rick Timmons and Ellen Menshew

•  "Pulling back the Curtain: Lies, Fraud, and Naked Profiteering in Medicare Privatization Schemes.” Presented by Wendell Potter, Mr. Potter was previously an executive in the healthcare industry.  He brings a unique perspective to the overall healthcare debate and the attempted privatization of Medicare.  Mr. Potter is currently the President  of the Center for Health and Democracy and also a Co-founder of Business Leaders for Health Care Transformation.

• Dr. Ed Weisbart is the Chair of the Missouri Physicians for a National Health Program.  Dr. Weisbart has done three Webinars for PSARA:​

  • "Defending Medicare from ACO Reach​​"

  • "Don’t Let Naked Profiteering Destroy Our Medicare"

  • "We Can Reclaim Medicare From Greedy Profiteers” presented September 13, 2023

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Testimonials/Letters, personal stories and letters concerning Medicare Advantage delay and denial of care:

• PSARA member's letter to the Senate Finance Committee (Statementsfortherecord@finance.senate.gov)

• Gary: Gary had emergency brain surgery.  His doctors had a recovery plan.  That plan never happened.  Watch the video to learn why.  

• Jacob:  Too many families, like Jacob’s, are suffering from the predatory management tactics of Medicare Advantage insurers.  PSARA is proud to have the support from the Be A Hero campaign to share these personal stories. We must never stop fighting to end the profiteering from these corporate predators. Please join us in this fight to “LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD”. Protect and expand Medicare!

• Rick Timmons:  PSARA member Rick Timmons talks about how a slow approval process and delay in being able to schedule a surgery put his life at risk and significantly complicated his recovery from cancer. 

 

More information from other organizations:

• National Public Radio (NPR): Older Americans say they feel trapped in Medicare Advantage plans

• Bloomberg Law:  UnitedHealthcare Accused of AI Use to Wrongfully Deny Claims (1)

• “UnitedHealth pushed employees to follow an algorithm to cut off Medicare patients’ rehab care” by Casey Ross and Bob Herman (Nov. 14, 2023).  Link is a summary by Center for Medicare Advocacy

• "Level the Playing Field Between Medicare and Medicare Advantage” talking points

• "2023 Convention of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Resolutions #2023.01”   Washington State Labor Council passed this resolution on July 20, 2023.  The resolution calls out the existential threat to Medicare as a public program that is coming from the privatized Medicare Advantage plans and ACO REACH – a threat that has intensified under the Biden Administration.  The resolution calls for leveling the playing field between Medicare Advantage and regular Medicare as well as stopping the overpayments to Medicare Advantage companies and recouping the overpayments already made due to fraud by Medicare Advantage insurance companies.  This is an excellent resolution for groups to adopt to communicate to their members and representatives their position on this issue. 

• "Hospitals dropping Medicare Advantage because of Concerns with patient care" 8/16/23 by Diane Archer, Just Care

• "Grand Theft Medicare" 8/21/22 by Dick Conoboy, NW Citizen

• "The Stealth Plan to Privatize Medicare for All", 8/24/22 by Rick Staggenborg, Counterpunch

• Physicians for a National Health Program resources on DCE/ACO REACH: https://pnhp.org/direct-contracting-entities-handing-traditional-medicare-to-wall-street/ 

• 6/7/18: Kip Sullivan article on CMS evaluation of several "medical home" ACO programs: The verdict is in: All three of CMS’s “medical home” demonstrations have failed – The Health Care Blog  

• 1/16/22: For background on the origins of the ACO REACH program, here's a short article on the key Medicare official who for years has promoted corporate interests in federal health policy.  

• 2/24/22:  American Journal of Managed Care  https://www.ajmc.com/view/cms-redesigns-direct-contracting-into-an-equity-focused-aco-model

• 5/19/22: Biden’s Little-Publicized Medicare Privatization Scheme Is Starting To Raise Alarm Bells   https://portside.org/2022-05-19/bidens-little-publicized-medicare-privatization-scheme-starting-raise-alarm-bells

• An excellent webinar that addresses the lack of health equity in the ACO REACH proposal. DCEs & REACH: Health Equity or Private Equity? - YouTube

• Robby Stern, President of the PSARA Education Fund, was interviewed by Richard Eskow about ACO REACH and the privatization of traditional Medicare. Watch the interview on YouTube by clicking this link: https://youtu.be/6FKFsxRs-Rw 

• Robby Stern was interviewed on Twitter Spaces on Jan. 27 about the Medicare Anti Privatization Campaign. Link here:  https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1jMKgLrlaOjGL?s=20l

• Webinar with Rep.Pramila Jayapal and members of PSARA on  ACO Reach and privatization of Medicare. Link HERE