This all sounds so compassionate and reasonable . . .


Here is Karen Ignagni  the CEO and chief spokesperson for America's Health insurance Plans (AHIP) being interviewed by USA Today:

But the real fear tactics come out in a video funded by none other that AHIP that does NOT truthfully represent the latest actions in the house of representatives to remove corporate grifters from handling Medicare Advantage plans.

House Votes To Push Millions Of Seniors Out Of Medicare Advantage

So -- what's the real deal? From  an article in the ThinkProgress about the industry friendly reporting that the WSJ had published:

The real question is: do the government's over payments actually provide better care than traditional Medicare?

The short answer is "no." A number of government reports and independent estimates have dampened the rationale for subsidizing MA plans. The extra federal dollars don't improve health outcomes. They pad insurers' bottom lines, raise costs for beneficiaries in the traditional Medicare program, squeeze both Medicare and the federal budget, and drain resources from more productive uses. Private fee-for-service Medicare Advantage plans, moreover, have exposed beneficiaries to serious financial risks.

It's also unclear why MA plans that claim to coordinate care and operate efficiently can't provide services at competitive rates. If they can manage care and the cost of care, why then do they need the extra federal dollars?

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/04/07/wsj-ma/

In Closing -- The following information is from OpenSecrets.org:

http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indus.php?lname=h&year=2008

Lobbying

Health

Sector Profile, 2008

Total For Health: $481,507,404

Campaign Contributions from this industry