SCAN (Medicare Advantage plan) starts $25/month premium

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To me, this looks suspiciously like a response to "The Bill That Hasn't Even Been Signed Yet." My Mom is 91 and has had SCAN for 2 years, and we have had no real complaints about it. They have paid for everything and we have never had to write a check to SCAN. Starting January 1, SCAN wants her to pay $25/month, which may not seem like a lot, but for a senior on a fixed income $300 per year is significant. One of SCAN's main selling points was the lack of a monthly premium. We're discussing right now whether to disenroll from SCAN and go back to regular Medicare, for which my Mom pays nearly $100/month out of her Social Security. Fortunately for her, she also has Tricare for Life as a secondary insurance, as a benefit from my (deceased) father. So she will be fine, but I am very concerned about seniors who have Medicare Advantage plans, who will have to pay more now, if the current bill reduces benefits in Medicare Advantage plans. From my point of view it seems to me that seniors are being harmed by this bill.

[ixion]

1. the winners are insurance companies

the rest of us get screwed.

[sandnsea]

2. You're very concerned about attacking this bill

I'll give you that.

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6. Thank you for your helpful and insightful contribution to this thread.

[Cleita]

3. This bill cuts Medicare funding which was at 113% of traditional Medicare

for each senior down back to 100% so apparently they are trying to make up the difference. The idea in Washington was to make these MA programs less wasteful, but instead they are going to make seniors pay for it and keep on being wasteful. Watch this across the board with all the insurers. With the new regulations about pre-existing conditions and dropping coverage, they are going to make up for it by jacking up premiums to make up for it since there is no provision for keeping premiums low.

Thank you so much Congress for this cow pie sandwich.

[SoCalDem]

4. Doesn't tri-care cover the gap? maybe she doesn't need SCAN too

At 92, maybe she has some grown kids/grandkids who could pay it for her, as a gift to Granny:)...if she wants the extra coverage.

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5. Yes, Tricare-for-life pays whatever the primary insurance doesn't,

so in my Mom's case she is pretty much set. I believe she could even drop the Medicare premium and just use Tricare-for-life, but we haven't gotten to that point yet. I think my Mom will still be able to see the same doctor and get effectively the same coverage even if she drops SCAN. So I'm not worried about my Mom's coverage, but I can see how most seniors, who do not have secondary insurance and rely only on Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan, will be squeezed. No, my sisters, who I view as rolling in money compared to me, do not help out, period.