UnitedHealth drops 1 million seniors, the biggest Medicare purge in two decades.

[JustKay]

Source: Penny Gem

UnitedHealth, which dominates the Medicare Advantage market, told investors last month it plans to shrink its enrollment by about 1 million people in 2026, reversing years of relentless growth.

The reduction equals roughly 12 percent of its Medicare Advantage membership, a contraction that analysts say is unprecedented for a company of this size in the program’s two‑decade expansion era.​


Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/unitedhealth-drops-1-million-seniors-biggest-medicare-purge-in-two-decades/vi-AA1ThHei?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=6955242b30484cd18b985c95560e4c76&ei=14

---

I work in the healthcare field with geriatric patients, and I can tell you firsthand that UnitedHealthcare is the devil and has been for decades.

[gab13by13]

1. It is not a Medicare purge

United Health is a private insurance company that overbills Medicare.

[ClaudetteCC]

2. Though I am not eligible

Many of the scam calls I get are from overseas call centers trying to push 'medicare advantage plans.' Anything that needs such heavy efforts to sell must not be a good deal.

[ret5hd]

5. ...for us but a great deal for them.

(seems you forgot to finish your sentence)

[Wonder Why]

63. That's why I call them Medicare Disadvantage programs.

Traditional Medicare and Medigap Plan F.

[AZ8theist]

78. If you have Plan F, good for you , but....

...Plan F is only available if you started Medicare before 2020.
Only supplemental plans now available to new retirees are G and N.
I've got a G plan and am really happy with it.

But you are correct. I wouldn't touch a (not actual Medicare) Medicare Advantage plan if you held a gun to my head.
This country needs single payer (GOVERNMENT!!) healthcare for all.

[Wonder Why]

79. I got really lucky. I probably would not have picked the most expensive supplement but

as an alternative to using my retiree insurance (which was totally worthless), the company offered an alternative in that they would supplement any Medigap Plan up to a certain amount. Of course, at that time (13 years ago), it paid half the cost of F for both me and my wife. But every year that amount goes down and the Plan has gone up in cost so it's down to about a quarter of the cost. But it's better than any alternative.

For me, I get my money's worth and then some out of my Plan F. For my wife, it's a small loss (the amount they pay over the year is less than the cost of the insurance).

[paleotn]

33. One of the great tip offs in life

Applies to this context and all others. If they’ve got to sell you hard there’s a reason for that and it isn’t good for you. Good deals sell themselves. Bad deals need lots of help. The harder they try to sell me, the higher the probability i call bullshit and walk away. In this case, it’s total bullshit.

[cstanleytech]

54. Unfortunately they do provide a bit of coverage for some things that traditional Medicare doesn't such as dental.

Plus eyewear for some plans which IMO should all be provided by traditional Medicare.

[at140]

73. Yes, $400 for eye wear, free eye exam, $1000 for dental

Plus my Medicare advantage plan pays $100 towards Medicare part B every month

[global1]

3. And This After All The Advertising UHC Did For It's Advantage Plan Over The Recent Open Enrollment Period......

I don't get it? Why would they throw all that money into getting people to enroll in their Advantage Plan - if they knew they were going to initiate this purge?

[InstantGratification]

7. I'll take a cynical guess (without actually doing any research for the truth)

The open enrollment signed up the younger, healthier cohort of medicare eligible seniors. The purge is going to drop the ones who are about to need more frequent care and that cuts into profits.....

[Ms. Toad]

12. It doesn't work that way.

If you offer a plan, it is available to everyone in the geographical region where it is marketed.

More likely, they are just not going to offer the plan in regions where it is less popular.

[ChicagoTeamster]

21. Or in regions where the general population can't afford the premiums and hospital bills

Didn't the DOGE cuts slash funding for Medicaid and Medicare causing a lot of rural hospitals, pharmacies, and nursing homes to close?

Medicare Advantage leeches money off of traditional Medicare so if that's getting cut (I bet the insurance executives were told by the Trump administration that the upcoming government shutdown was going to be used to force program cuts) then those insurance products won't be profitable in those areas.

[LogDog75]

48. Exactly

Seniors who are younger and healthier than older seniors means UnitedHealth doesn't have to pay out as much in healthcare to cover what Medicare doesn't pay for. For them, it's not about the needs of the people they insure but about the needs of their shareholders and company executives.

[SheltieLover]

51. Precisely!

[thesquanderer]

8. They are discontinuing less profitable plans. They are not getting out of the market. (n/t)

[ratchiweenie]

16. That is exactly what they are doing. My husband and I have been with them for years. We have a plan that is no

longer offered which covers pretty much everything. My husband had a quadruple bi-pass and aortic valve replacement and it cost us about $80. They are getting rid of that plan and I'm sure several others.

[FakeNoose]

32. Are they offering you a different policy to replace the one that is cancelled?

They have to offer you something, I would think. When you've been paying premiums for several years, and they took the money, they owe you a policy of some kind.

[IbogaProject]

55. There are only three ways to get out of Medicare Advantage scott free

One is to die, Two is for an employer based MA plan to be canceled The Third is this case where the MA insurance corp closes the plan themselves. All these open a brief window, ending today for this instance, to enroll in MediGap without medical underwriting. The fact that Medicare is 80% and that the 20% "out of pocket" isn't capped to some four figure maximum is straight up evil.

[yellowdogintexas]

57. However, that 80% is calculated against Medicare's approved amount

which means that a $10000 surgery might have an approved amount of $3000 so the 20% would be $600 not $2000

I am NOT arguing that a cap on Out of Pocket costs is not needed!! It most certainly is needed. Even an annual cap would be an improvement but a lifetime cap would be preferable

Facility charges would not change though since everybody gets Part A whether on traditional Part B or an Advantage plan.

I was a claims analyst for Part B for 7 years in the 1970s and even back then I thought it was superior and felt strongly that we should all have access to it. The more younger healthier people enrolled, the better.

[ratchiweenie]

85. We don't know yet. Our current policy has not expired yet. I'm sure they will offer something but we are both

late 70's with pre-existing conditions so god knows how much they will charge for decent coverage.

[Ruby the Liberal]

36. They need to be catapulted into the sun

The blood sucking leeches at these MA scams along with the GOP legislators that are encouraging this.

[OldBaldy1701E]

9. Because they will make many times over than amount in what they get from those who fall for it. (n/y)

[Lonestarblue]

23. They may be purging the seniors who are costing them the most for medical care.

Advantage plans are a scam. Given Trump’s corruption and Republucans’ dislike of any government program that benefits average Americans instead of the wealthy, my fear is that original Medicare users will be forced into substandard Advantage plans. The administration has already started changing Medicare with several medical treatments now requiring pre-clearance in some states.

[SCantiGOP]

35. Good points. See my answer

#34 below.
Medicare Advantage plans are scams like extended car warranties.

[intheflow]

4. Free Luigi!

I mean, I don't condone violence in any way shape or form. However, the magnitude of deaths caused by this action is also an act of violence, a mass attack instead of a targeted one. You'd think they would have learned something from their CEO being assassinated, but nooooo.

[lonely bird]

41. This!

Economic violence IS violence. In the case of physical violence done against you there is recourse via the state. Recourse to economic violence is limited to the courts which may frag out for years or to “the market” which is the source of economic violence.

[Seinan Sensei]

49. $26.3 million

The amount UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty received in 2024

[Duncan Grant]

68. It's a failure of capitalism (or a crime, imho). nt

[jfz9580m]

74. It wouldn't matter anyway

“I mean, I don’t condone violence in any way, shape or form.”

I have seen your posts before intheflow .

Even without that disclaimer no one could seriously think you condone violence. And even with that disclaimer if someone wants to pretend maliciously that you do or have “issues” and need monitoring, they will pretend that.

The tools that are truly radicalising people and causing mass violence and anger are unchecked - too lucrative. YouTube alone sends so many people into conspiratorial landscapes you or I couldn’t imagine, while it is “paranoid” to think “hey maybe all these nice surveillance oligarchs and data miners are not entirely cuddly and cute”.

People who publicly clutch pearls, preach and finger-wag over them and throw bogus “studies” and non fixes without shutting the damn shit off don’t want that stuff to stop for the most part.

And many of us reflexively and anxiously reassure the powers that be (and any other fascist humpers, sycophants, overlords and order-keepers) of our various virtues and harmlessness.

I don’t mean you btw intheflow ;-/ (though you have been the unfortunate recipient of a low-key seething rant)..I just meant the effect these guys have. Cynical to the core..
It is close to 20 years into social media and more broadly the internet.

Except some people who genuinely read human personality somewhat less intuitively, most humans have a sense of personality, “behavioral predictions” (to use the kind of language that I roll my eyes over) etc. Yes sometimes things go surprisingly, but monitoring large numbers of people for no reason at all has nothing to do with safety or health. It is simply too profitable.

Free Luigi..

Jail Musk, Marc Andreessen, the remaining Koch (old fashioned), Horowitz, Alex Karp, Peter Thiel, Zuckerberg, Musk, Nadella, Pichai, Andrew Witty, Larry Page (also in the Epstein files), Alex Pentland (MIT Media Lab formerly Epstein linked), Sergei Brin, Alexandr Wang, Jack Ma, Reid Hoffman, Mark Cuban, Ambani, Adani, Mahindra, Pavel Durov (actually I think that one already happened. I am trying to be “inclusive” in billionaire jailing and off the cuff don’t know any other Russian oligarchs, since I too have a very America-centric news palette for someone who lives half the world away), Wojickis, Sheryl Sandberg, Clare Wu, etc.
I don’t even know the names of the various parasitic factory farming (the regular kind not tech creep Panopticons) magnates or the fossil fuel parasites.

The general population ..well okay me anyway..is getting restive…Jail the creeps/oligarchs/billionaires..Free Luigi.

Copious amounts of unnecessary data collection will not give the people who see what they want to see any insights into human nature or human behavior. But it wastes a lot of time and energy and makes your life and mine hell and maybe that is all that matters to these rapacious and parasitic industries…

[Trueblue Texan]

6. I agree with your assessment, JustKay. nt

[Auggie]

10. My mother's MA plan was dropped by UnitedHealth last year ...

it was in conjunction with a local physicians group with whom she really liked. Our options were to re-sign with United Healthcare MA but find nearly all new specialists, or get a Medicare supplement.

Because UH dropped the plan, we could get an original Plan F without underwriting. It's the law. The premium was sky-high, but with her first doctor's visit my mom was flabbergasted there was no co-pay required. Welcome to Plan F, Mom.

In two months, under California's birthday rule, we were able to switch to the more moderately-priced Plan G. We DID NOT sign with UnitedHealth. Screw them.

[Auggie]

17. BTW, if United HealthCare MA drops you, they HAVE to accept you into one of their supplement plans ...

and without underwriting. It's the law, at least in California.

[Botany]

11. How many of those people who were dropped voted for Trump?

I wonder what the C.E.O. of United Healthcare makes?

“They” want people to die end of story.

[Ruby the Liberal]

37. As of May 2025 - $1m in base salary and $60m in stock that vests in 2028

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/unitedhealths-ceo-hemsley-get-1-million-annual-base-pay-2025-05-14

[Botany]

38. So I am sure that the 60 million in stocks is untaxed until he taps into it, that when he does he will...

…. only be taxed on any money he takes out of it, and that through trusts along with other vehicles his
estate and family will inherit the funds with little or no taxes.

America is just a great country.

[Ms. Toad]

13. It may well be the devil as to Medicare Advantage -

But in much of the country, it's supplement (Medical) plan is the best (cheapest) available.

Unlike MA, providers of supplement plans don't get to pick and choose which bills to pay.

[PCB66]

18. Both my wife and I have AARP/UHC

Part F Medigap

Wonder if we will be affected?

[Ms. Toad]

22. Nope. All they are doing is dropping MA plans that aren't making them enough money.

If they vanish altogether, you'll get another special enrollment period to pick a new one - but in not worried about that. They are also my supplement provider - and my parents'

[jmbar2]

29. Just curious... how much is Plan F?

[radical noodle]

45. That depends on your age

Every year the premiums rise a bit... at least that's the case for Plan F Anthem Blue Cross. We've had it now for 13 years as our Medicare supplement and the only thing I've had to pay out of pocket is $45 for a tetanus shot my doctor advised after I had a deep puncture wound. My husband has paid nothing at all. Bills are promptly paid with no questions, and there is no referral required for a specialist. Again, mine is Anthem and I'm in Florida so someone else may have a different experience with Plan F. We each will pay $432.36 approx per month in 2026, the year we turn 79. I'm afraid to ever switch to anything else as this is so hassle free (even though expensive).

[jmbar2]

47. Pricy, but still a bargain compared to what others are facing.

Thanks for sharing.

[radical noodle]

59. Yes, and at our age

and with the medical bills my husband has, it is well worth it. You just never know what you may face around the corner. We had friends who decided to reduce their premiums by getting a lower price policy for the wife who was healthy and keep the good policy for the husband who had health issues. Shortly after, the wife got cancer and they ended up paying a lot out of pocket. Sometimes it's just a crap shoot.

[jmbar2]

64. What happens in a situation like?

When you're old, you chose the wrong plan and don't have the money for deductibles or the meds? Do they just turn you away to die? (Asking for a friend, ulp...)

[radical noodle]

76. I honestly don't know

although I've heard that, depending on your illness, a doctor may be able to steer you toward some financial help. As far as drugs, try to find them in Canada if the doctor thinks it's okay. I currently have one prescription that was nearly $600 a month that I can get for $113.00 in Canada.

I do know some people just can't afford treatment and try GoFundMe. Sometimes a person's church will pitch in and help, and I've known schools to hold fundraisers for students or staff and/or their families.

[Karma13612]

75. Is the $432.36

On TOP of your monthly Medicare Premium?

See, this is the reason I had to have the Medicare Advantage Plan instead of MediGap. I could NEVER EVER afford that premium!

Although my Aetna Medicare Advantage Plan has gotten somewhat more expensive (less covered and we now have to pay $10 for a PCP visit and copays have all gone up), it’s STILL better than having an obscenely expensive Supplemental Plan.

[radical noodle]

77. Yes it is

But many doctors around here won't touch patients with Advantage plans. It's the first thing out of their mouths when you call about becoming a new patient. I understand why people buy Advantage plans but I suspect that there's a reason so many doctors around here refuse it. If you can get good docs in your area to accept it, that's great. I'd probably keep it too.

We do what we have to do.

[Karma13612]

81. Thank you for your response.

It’s true, we have to do what’s best for our circumstances. No question about it.

And, I understand that since I have had an advantage plan since i got medicare in 2019, I would need to be accepted by an insurance company and go thru underwriting if I wanted to change to a supplemental plan. I don’t have too much wrong with me, but they would probably still not want to insure me.

We need Medicare for all. Everyone working would pay a small percentage of their salary (not a flat premium which doesn’t take into account a person’s financial situation). And it would cover EVERYONE, CRADLE to Grave. No premiums, no copays, no ‘in or out of network’. Everyone equal.

It’s time. It’s humane, it’s the right thing to do. We are one of the rare developed countries which doesn’t provide properly for their people. It’s shameful.

[radical noodle]

86. I agree with this 100%

I know too many people who have to go without the healthcare they need because it's unaffordable. They can't get Medicaid and they can't afford insurance.

A lot of people are fearful of what might be labeled by the GOP as socialized medicine but most are comfortable with Medicare and would be more accepting. It's going to be a tough fight, but these high prices of health insurance going into effect today may actually help get us there in the end. I can dream.

[Akakoji]

14. Have to disagree.MedicareAdvantage through United

Or anyone is total BS. Their Plan F, which they’ve been trying to throw me off of since 2010 is amazing. They don’t even offer it anymore. The plans they offer now, outside of Medicare Advantage, are incredibly expensive though. It’s up to us to get involved in every GOP members campaign to make them pay for destroying the little support we got from the subsidies however. Every Senate race. Every House race. Every Governors race. Every state legislative race.

[NGeorgian]

70. Plan F is NOT Medicare Advantage,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

It;s a supplement to real Medicare.

[llmart]

71. The poster didn't say that Plan F was an Advantage plan.

Also, Plan F was discontinued for any new enrollees after a certain year - can't remember right now which year - but when I enrolled I chose Plan G which was almost the same coverage as Plan F but maybe a slightly higher deductible. My monthly bill is $242 for just me. I think that's very reasonable. I had a major surgery two years ago where the bills added up to over $65,000 and I didn't pay a penny.

I would never get an Advantage plan. As someone else said on this thread, you never know what's going to happen to you. I am a very healthy 76 year old, but I had a freaky benign tumor that required major surgery to remove and some facial reconstruction (basically two surgeries at one time).

[Akakoji]

80. I did not say it was

Medicare Advantage has never been a good option for anyone that had options. It was just a way that Orrin Hatch came up with selling gullible Americans on something that benefitted insurers as well as states that were trying to get out of ever increasing Medicaid costs. He called it Freedom in Health Care Choice. Another GOP scam. The price of Plan F was increased by 17% this year. It was already the most expensive choice when I got it in 2010. Once again, Pharma is raising the prices of all their meds. Plan F is still worth it though, because they cover 100% of my monthly $7,000 prescriptions. To the GOP - every single one of the members of the House and Senate with an (r) after their name - the point is to have people with disabilities, elderly people with one or more pre-existing conditions, veterans with any health care needs, and those unable to work to just die off. The health care system, and the insurers that prey on the public, just want to cover people that are not sick or are able to pay for unexpected and urgent care out of their pocket. I don't actually know anyone on Medicare that would be able to do that. The people the GOP is attacking can't even afford rent or food.

[AverageOldGuy]

15. Is it true . . .

That if you drop standard Medicare and sign up for Medicare Advantage, you CANNOT go back to standard Medicare?

[Emile]

20. No, you'll need to get a Part D drug plan and might

face underwriting for a Medigap policy.

[snowybirdie]

27. I believe

You'll get back in somewhere, but premiums are outrageous.

[Soul_of_Wit]

44. Think pre-existing conditions

You can go back to Medicare, but... Medicare (the true, vanilla kind) has no pre-existing conditions. This is true as long as you maintain Medicare coverage. Having Medicare Advantage changes that. If you then go back to Medicare then your premium can be higher, due to any pre-existing conditions. It will be higher for the rest of your life.

Why might you have to go back to Medicare? The obvious reason is that you aren't as healthy as you once were. Folks get older. Your private insurer (remember, it is not Medicare) may refuse to cover something which costs them too much. The reason Advantage plans can offer perks is precisely because they avoid paying for expensive care. The other reason Advantage plans can offer perks is because they cost the federal government more than Medicare does.

EDIT: To clarify, the cost of the pre-existing conditions will be an increased cost for a Medigap policy. These are typically purchased as supplements to vanilla Medicare. They assist with coverage for the 20% co-pay inherent in vanilla Medicare. These increased costs are on top of any late enrollment penalties.

[IbogaProject]

53. I think the plan canceling is a special event which is like landing on a lucky space on a board game

I think it gives a chance to get medigap just like you enrolled promptly at 65.

If your Medicare Advantage (MA) plan is discontinued, you'll be moved to Original Medicare (Part A & B) but must act to avoid gaps, especially in drug coverage (Part D); you get a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) to join a new MA plan, a Part D plan, or get a Medigap policy (possibly with guaranteed issue rights), otherwise, you risk high out-of-pocket costs and losing benefits like dental/vision. Read your plan's termination notice carefully for deadlines and options.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/medicare-advantage-plan-canceled-here-s-how-to-avoid-a-coverage-gap-after-dec-7/ar-AA1SxYE8

If your Medicare Advantage plan was canceled and you missed the warning in your annual notice of change, don’t panic.

Federal rules give you a special enrollment period that allows you to choose a new plan even after Medicare’s Dec. 7 open enrollment deadline. But timing matters. To ensure your new coverage begins Jan. 1 and to avoid a gap, you must enroll by Dec. 31.

Jae Oh, author of Maximize Your Medicare, recently explained how this little-known enrollment window works and why it can be especially important for people whose plans were terminated. What follows is an edited transcript of that conversation, revised for clarity and brevity.

[NGeorgian]

19. They advertise that you can count on them.

[dlk]

24. Health insurance companies terminate Advantage plans every year

This gives the enrollee an SEP (special enrollment period) of 1 month before and 2 months after the plan terminates where they can enroll with another Advantage plan or supplement plan, with guaranteed issue (no medical underwriting). If they do nothing, they will be enrolled with Original Medicare.

Enrollment in a new plan should be done before the plan terminates to avoid a coverage gap and possible enrollment penalties.

It’s also important to remember, Medicare requires creditable prescription drug coverage, either as part of an Advantage plan or with a standalone PDP (prescription drug plan), or there is a lifetime LEP (late enrollment penalty.

When insurance companies terminate Advantage plans, they generally add new ones.

All Advantage plans are available to view, with enrollment options, on the Medicare.gov website.

As long as a Medicare enrollment is completed by the last day of the month, coverage can be effective on the first day of the following month. If someone enrolls today, 12/31/25, their coverage can be effective 01/01/2026.

[IbogaProject]

25. Does that mean they get to resume normal medicare wo penalties?

[dlk]

28. Original Medicare covers 80%, the patient is responsible for 20%

This is for Part A and Part B services.

Medicare also has a Part D (prescription drugs) enrollment requirement. Otherwise there are lifetime, late enrollment penalties.

[Soul_of_Wit]

46. Your premium can be increased

See my post 44. Vanilla Medicare can consider pre-existing conditions, but only in situations where you were 65+ and had no vanilla Medicare for a while.

[TNNurse]

26. I will always remember

when that UnitedHealthcare (not medicare) nurse called and cheerily informed that SHE had approved my mastectomy for breast cancer with metastasis. I was too shocked to ask how could she not approve it. They later drug out approving my total knee surgery and I had to wait until I retired. Guess my cancer cost them too much, so I had to wait.

[TBF]

30. I would expect nothing less from UH -

they have a regime in office that will let them get away with anything & they will take full advantage.

Excellent OP.

[joanbarnes]

31. None of my doctors take it, so they hate it too.

[SCantiGOP]

34. Stay away from Medicare Advantage plans

Regular Medicare with a Medigap plan and a Part D prescription plan are the best options.
I worked for over 30 years for a nationwide system of non-profits, and their annual notice to their retirees ( they still reimburse us for Medigap and Part D premiums ) says to be very cautious about Medicare Advantage plans. Out HR rep will tell you not to be suckered in on them.

[Grins]

39. And yet it gets HUGE financial support from AARP

UnitedHealth has been recommended by the AARP as their choice for AARP for DECADES.
AARP recommends only UnitedHealth for health insurance to their members.

Has AARP ever solicited other insurers to compete for AARP's 38-million members? Not that I know of. Thirty years is a LONG time to hold a contract like this.

And why should they? UnitedHealth kicks back 4.95% of premium income from AARP subscribers to AARP. Of the approximately $1.1 BILLION AARP gets from ALL insurers, about $900 million came from health insurers. And who got the lion's share of that $900-million...?

AARP masquerades as an advocacy group for the elderly. In reality, it is a UnitedHealth marketing scam.

[Sessuch]

50. Time for canceling AARP.

[Rebl2]

40. My parents

had united healthcare for years (not advantage plan) and it usually picked up all the cost that Medicare didn’t pay. After reading more about it since they have passed, I would never buy it for myself.

[LittleGirl]

42. I'm starting on my second year of Medicare

I have a Prescription plan D but it doesn't cover my thyroid medication because it's made in Switzerland. It's the only medication that doesn't have "fillers" in the dose so it works for me for 15 years now. They refuse to cover it. In Switzerland, it cost 40 bucks for 100 pills. Here they want several hundred for a 28 day supply. I take it daily but for some reason, they think they are birth control so only distribute 28 pills at a time. It's just b.s.

I don't have an advantage plan at all so I pay the 20%. if you ask nicely, some doctors will lower their rates for that extra.

I do not have a dental plan but I pay mine with cash and get a discount. I asked the dental clerks which plan is the best and they just shook their heads. None of them are worth the paper they are written on.

I'm in CA.

[1WorldHope]

43. I have had UHC advantage for 5 years.

It has worked out for me. However, I am thrilled to be able to drop it and go on regular Medicare with ChampVA as my supplement and drug plan. My husband is a VN vet and we are so grateful for what the VA has done for him. He has been awarded 100% (if that is the correct word) disability. That comes with so many wonderful benefits that I feel a little guilty. Our homestead exemption is now 100%. I get to use ChampVA and get out of the managed care scam. Healthcare should be free for all. The Oligarchs just want us eaters to die. What a fucked up world they are trying to create.

[SheltieLover]

52. Another example of why Medicare Advantage is anything but for consumers!

[catrose]

56. I agree. UH was the devil when it was my employer's insurance. No way was I using them for Medicare.

[Joinfortmill]

58. My Advantage plan did me a favor and dropped it's plan.

Beginning tomorrow I'm on original medicare with a supplemental plan and a prescription drug plan.

A word of warning from someone who knows: Advantage plans are good until they're not. And when is that? When you get a chronic condition that is expensive to treat.

It's a journey, people. I hope it ends with Universal Healthcare for all Americans.

[Faux pas]

60. They just wanted the money and always have.

Greed is the deadliest SIN.

[vapor2]

61. STAY CLEAR OF ANY AND ALL ADVANTAGE PLANS

[Evolve Dammit]

62. And just a thought; other countries with single payer don't worry about this total horseshit. Another uniquely American

problem. Like mass shootings almost every f'in day.

[Blue Owl]

65. And meanwhile, a few billionaires are getting a tax break and a few extra yachts

[pfitz59]

66. Mangione must have had an impact

on more than the bottom line.

[B.See]

67. Look around, America. Have you

lost your insurance coverage or getting less while paying more for out of pocket?

Are some of your favorite stores, places disappearing... going out of business (like the 700 plus businesses that shuttered because of Trump's tariffs?)

Are you paying more for damn near everything? While services and government agencies like Social Security have gotten slower in response? Disaster relief, shoddier or unlikely?

Does it seem like our institutions and social safety nets are less reliable and less likely to have our backs? Well...

That's because Trump & Co. have "made America great.... again."

Can't you just FEEL how 'great' we've become?

[dflprincess]

69. It's been more than 20 years since I worked at UnitedHealth

Fortunately not in any area connected to claims or what is or isn't covered.

Yet, it made me a believer in Single Payer. The powers that be at the time would have been shocked at how many of its employees thought that way.

[jfz9580m]

72. jerks

They really just want old people to die..

Well..my NY res is to be a milder person, who still thinks a few people like these guys need some checks so everyone else/the planet can survive or dare one hope, even thrive. A scalpel.

UHC Healthcare seems to be run by jerks with hoarding syndrome similar to the obscene billionaires. They should be smote (with legal tools like courts and laws and public disdain).

I wonder what it is like to be one of the more decent employees of such an infamous company. Can’t be easy. On the one hand their lives must suck as they work there. Otoh they probably unfairly share in the general scorn a large enough segment of the populace rightly heaps on anyone UHC associated reflexively. Who could afford to give up any job in this era, if you still have one? They may even ameliorate some of the distress meted out by those jerks.

Another of my NY res (for my own rationality) is to not reflexively go thunder and damnation every time I see a reference to my own noxious former employer. But selectively smite (using legal tools and public disdain) as needed.

I am feeling altogether mellow, philosophical, adult and mature this morning..I give it an hour, before I return to normal ;-/.

For an atheist I feel very Biblical wrt (selective) smiting (using legal tools and public disdain). This is a root of most societal problems. Too many randoms caught up in warfare and conflict when it should be selective smiting of a few - those with most access to their free will (which needs money, time and an absence of counter smiting by jerks) who still chose to be jerky jerks causing distress to many much nicer people .

[travelingthrulife]

82. Clearly these private insurers cannot manage themselves, so why on earth do we want

ANY of them involved in our healthcare insurance?

[jmbar2]

83. I learned SO much about health insurance from this post and all the responses.

Thank you to EVERYONE who responded, and to original OP. DU is a great place to learn about life.

[BComplex]

84. Just another proof that insurance companies have NO FUCKING BUSINESS

in our healthcare industry.

If all the billions, or trillions, that Americans pay in health insurance premiums were INSTEAD paid as taxes, we could have universal health care and dental care with no copays. It would pay for everything. ....Everything, except of course, the billions paid out to the health insurance companies to keep hold of our citizens by the short hairs.

[FredGarvin]

87. We should elect people that can actually fight back

sad