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On MEGATRENDS January 31, 2024: A redux of a prior show in October, 2023 "Medicare Advantage is NOT MEDICARE!" That show was centered on the flood of ads during "open enrollment" period. A new analysis by the nonpartisan KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation found ads hawking Medicare Advantage (MA) plans ran 650,000 times during last year’s open enrollment period, from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. Medicare enrollees tell KFF that they get many unsolicited telephone calls touting Advantage plans, the private alternative to original Medicare, in addition to the constant drumbeat of TV ads. A recent MEGATRENDS show: "Senior feel trapped inside Medicare Advantage" highlighted the COMPLEXITY of the US health system, compared to the utter SIMPLICITY of NHSs in the other 72 countries in the developed world: they pay taxes, they get comprehensive healthcare for ALL citizens. In the US, 24 million people have NO health insurance. According to the data from the UN Commision on UHC and the WHO...the US has the worst national HC at twice the cost among 72 cohort nations--and is by far the most complicated for its citizens to navigate.

The US for-profit market-based medical insurance industry runs the worst healthcare system in the developed world, the highest infant mortality rate and post-natal death rate among mothers--at twice the cost. At the same time, so-called "healthcare stocks" are skyrocketing, as the investor class reaping huge profits. ACA has proven to be a massive corporate wealth transfer from the working class to the wealthy. The role of doctors is often to deny health tests as "not medically necessary".

This show was prompted, however, by a conversation I had with a 31-year-old professional in SF who, in response to "Medicare Advantage is NOT Medicare" was "Oh, it isn't? I didn't know that." He had been helping his aging parents navigate through the complex choices of Medicare Advantage, not realizing that the COMPLEXITY is INTENTIONAL, the very reason why seniors all too frequently get trapped in MA plans that don't cover their health needs, or the doctor they need is "out of network", thus paying excessively high copays. It was shocking to discover: The faact that Medicare Advantage is NOT Medicare reality remains a mystery to Gen X and Gen Z. My interview with my 31-year-old Gen Z cohort proves: the propaganda is intentionally confusing. Family and friends living in the EU, Japan, Taiwan, and Latin America just shake their heads. "Our NHS is so SIMPLE." Copays are not a thing. "Out of network doctors" is not a thing. So..ya think the US needs a genuine NHS?

For now, in an election year, the Biden Adminstration is subsidizing a corrupt twice-as-expensive system. Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces has wrapped up in most states with another record high number of people signing up for coverage. The number of people with Marketplace coverage has grown significantly each year under the Biden Administration, with enhanced subsidies in the American Rescue Plan Act and the Inflation Reduction Act driving most of this growth and increased marketing, outreach, and enrollment assistance also playing a role.