Great Northern States Health Care Initiative: April 2022

Monday, April 25, 2022

Stop the Privatization and Reverse It

Privatization of Medicare An experiment with Medicare called a “direct contracting model” (DCE) was begun during the Trump administration. It allowed for-profit giants to take over portions of Medicare. A complete privatization of Medicare could happen by 2030. The Biden Administration could stop this from progressing but hasn’t. About 250 health organizations complained to the federal agencies responsible for Medicare, demanding a halt to the operation of these “Direct Contracting Entities” (DCEs). The complaints caused the agencies to rename the privatization scheme from DCEs to “Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Reach.” The for-profit companies, dubbed DCEs or ACO Reach, get paid monthly by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to cover a specified portion of a patient's medical care. This is a major shift away from traditional Medicare. Traditional Medicare pays health care providers directly. During this current experimental period, Medicare patients could be put into an ACO Reach without their knowledge or permission! ACO Reach is designed to drive up costs for patients and maximize corporate profits. President Biden needs to end this program now. ACO Reach corporations are allowed to keep the funding they don’t spend on patient care. That motivates these secret, for-profit middlemen to skimp on patient care. In February 2022, an expert testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee that this privatization would bankrupt the hospitalization part of Medicare by 2026, and Medicare itself by 2030. This insidious attack on Medicare allows ACO Reach corporations to insert themselves between doctors and patients and use our Medicare dollars to pad their profits. Seniors value traditional Medicare because it is simple, efficient, and universal. Right now, these changes are happening at a small scale, but the privatization experiment is set to expand this year unless President Biden takes action to stop it. Contact the President, your Senators, and Congressional Rep; tell them to outlaw ACO Reach. Keep traditional Medicare strong and intact. No privatization! https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/30/congress-asleep-switch-biden-continues- trump-era-ploy-privatize-medicare