Privatizing Medicare. Changing the name won't make it any better.

I get emails from my friend Mike who rages against Medicare Advantage.

In particular he is pissed that as a retired teacher, the state subsidy forces him to enroll in MA when he would prefer original Medicare. The state subsidy only applies to those in the teacher healthcare program that use MA.

It clearly is unfair and supports a Medicare Advantage program that is a source of huge profits for private insurance.

I haven’t heard from Mike lately. But I am sure he is not happy that the federal government under Joe Biden is turning the entire Medicare system, including original Medicare, into a private insurance-based system.

Earlier proposals called it “Direct Contracting Entities,” but starting next year they will be known as Accountable Care Organizations, or ACOs.

Medicare’s plan to transform traditional Medicare into a fee-for-service program and will be a huge expansion of healthcare privatization.

Mike will not have a choice between original Medicare and MA much longer.

If you are enrolled in traditional Medicare, no matter your preference, Medicare will enroll you in this new model over the next decade.

The ACOs will look like Medicare Advantage. They will create networks of preferred healthcare providers that retain as profit the portion of payments not spent on healthcare.

The more a provider denies benefits, the more money they make.

So Mike, starting next year you can be assigned to an ACO even without your consent.