Day: December 15, 2022

Medicare Advantage Plans

I know you have seen those Medicare Advantage plans on TV…..I have written what I think about these plans…in short a con job to separate seniors from their money….

Those MediCare Advantage Plans

It appears that Congress will attempt to investigate these scams….

The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed a ban on misleading ads for Medicare Advantage plans that have targeted older Americans and, in some cases, persuaded them to sign up for plans that don’t cover their doctors or prescriptions. The rule, proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, would prohibit ads that market Medicare Advantage plans with confusing words, imagery, or logos. The rule also would ban ads that don’t specifically mention a health insurance plan by name, the AP reports.

It’s an aggressive step to tackle a growing problem in the Medicare Advantage marketplace, a booming business that offers privately run versions of the government’s Medicare program for people who are 65 and older or have disabilities. Nearly half of all Medicare enrollees—about 28 million—are now turning to Medicare Advantage plans. And some have been deceived by television commercials, online ads, and mailers put out by the marketing agencies and brokers that some insurers have hired to win over customers. The proposed rule “takes important steps to hold Medicare Advantage plans accountable for providing high quality coverage and care to enrollees,” said agency Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure in a statement.

The problem has become so pervasive that CMS agents have been secretly shopping for plans by calling the phone numbers in advertisements, finding in some cases that brokers have overstated the benefits that enrollees would get and the money they would save in the new plans. Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee released an investigative report last month showing that several states also reported an increase in complaints about deceptive marketing schemes in 2021. “These proposals are an important step towards protecting seniors in Medicare from scammers and unscrupulous insurance companies and brokers,” the committee’s chairman, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Will this put a stop to these types of scams or is it just going through the motions to look like the government actually cares?

Whatcha think?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Another Assault On Christianity?

Recently I wrote a post about Ukraine’s banning of the Russian Orthodox Church…..

Christianity Gets Banned

Zelensky has upped the ante against the church by seizing assets…..

Ukraine has ratcheted up its campaign against a branch of the Eastern Orthodox church with ties to Russia. On the order of President Volodymyr Zelensky, seven senior clerics from the Russian Orthodox church will have their assets seized and face bans on a range of economic and legal activities.

During his nightly video address on Sunday, the Ukrainian president said “by decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, sanctions were applied against seven people,” adding that his administration is “doing everything to ensure that the aggressor state does not have a single string of Ukrainian society to pull.”

According to Reuters, the new penalties mean that the seven clerics will have “their assets seized and are subject to a ban on a range of economic and legal activities as well as a de facto travel ban.”

The vast majority of Ukrainians belong to Eastern Orthodox churches, with many worshiping in parishes that take direction from the Moscow Patriarchate. On December 1, Zelensky announced that Kiev would attempt to expel all religious institutions with ties to Russia, arguing the move would make “it impossible for religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation to operate in Ukraine.”

The president went on the claim that the Russian Orthodox Church poses a threat to Ukrainian culture, saying “we will never allow anyone to build an empire inside the Ukrainian soul.” He additionally denounced Ukrainians who continue to attend the allegedly Russia-controlled parishes as succumbing to “the temptation of evil.”

https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/kiev-seizes-assets-of-russian-orthodox-clerics/

While I can understand what he is doing I still think this is a bad idea.

He would be alienating a part of the population by assaulting their religious leaders and beliefs.

It is one thing to hate the Russians and it is another when you attack religion.

I still have not heard any comments from our dynamite religious community on this assault….do they condemn it or do they support it?

Just thinking.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”