======================================================================================
Negative stories about Medicare Advantage (MA) insurers are finally making it to mainstream media after percolating below the surface for years. More and more patients, physicians, and even health care executives are speaking up about the disastrous expansion of this program. Shockingly, some of these stories have come from the insurance companies themselves.
With no hint of shame or irony, executives like CFO Thomas Cowhey of CVS Health have delivered lines such as “The goal next year is margin over membership,” making explicit that more money is their mantra. With all these reports of limited networks, care denials, delayed payments, and corporate greed, you may feel like the story of MA can’t get any worse.