Medicare Advantage plans scam the taxpayer. Billions in profits.

It was 11 degrees back home in Chicago this morning.

But we’ve got one more week in Florida on the Gulf Coast. The water is a chilly 66 degrees. The sun is out and it might get to 80 today.

The latest in Ron DeSantis news?

Don Falls, a Florida high school teacher, is lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the Stop WOKE Act, which was passed in 2022 to "fight back against woke indoctrination."

Falls hopes to block the law on first amendment grounds.

The Stop WOKE Act is one of several laws passed recently aiming to restrict teaching on race and gender in Florida. Earlier this month, DeSantis also blocked the teaching of AP African American history in the state.

Meanwhile if you are a retiree like me and concerned about Medicare and Medicare Advantage programs you should be reading the continuing story being covered well by Kaiser Health News on the scamming by Medicare Advantage plans.

KHN has released details of 90 previously secret government audits that reveal millions of dollars in overpayments to Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors.

The audits cover billings from 2011 through 2013.

While the audit reviews are recent, enrollment in MA plans has exploded over the past decade to over 30 million and is expected to grow as Medicare itself becomes more of a private insurance, for-profit program.

Kaiser Health News obtained the long-hidden audit summaries through a three-year Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against CMS, which was settled in late September.

In November, KHN reported that the audits uncovered about $12 million in net overpayments for the care of 18,090 patients sampled. In all, 71 of the 90 audits uncovered net overpayments, which topped $1,000 per patient on average in 23 audits.

Spencer Perlman, an analyst with Veda Partners in Bethesda, Maryland, said he believes the data released by KHN indicates the government’s clawbacks for potential overpayments could reach as high as $3 billion.