Day: March 8, 2023

Closing Thought–08Mar23

Scamming our seniors.

My regular visitors know that since I am an old fart I try to keep an eye on the scams and policies that will effect most people as they retire.

The insurance industry is getting worse by the year….they have been scamming seniors for decades and it just gets worse with the passing of time.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a report Wednesday highlighting the splashy incentives—from luxury vacations to cash bonuses—that private insurance companies offer agents and brokers for enrolling seniors in potentially higher-cost Medigap plans.

Medigap is federally regulated supplemental health insurance offered by for-profit companies such as UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and Aetna.

According to Warren, the Medigap marketplace is rife with “incentive trips and other perks for brokers and agents” who—in pursuit of such rewards—could be motivated to “push seniors into the most expensive Medigap plans, regardless of whether those plans meet their needs.”

The senator found that the estimated 32 private companies that entice agents with vacations and other incentives to boost Medigap sales provided the supplemental insurance to around 6.6 million people in the U.S. in 2021 and raked in nearly $16 billion in premiums from beneficiaries that year.

Warren acknowledged that her report “may underestimate the prevalence of incentives and rewards in the Medigap insurance industry” given that insurers and third-party companies are often not transparent about their incentive practices.

In a statement, Warren lamented the weak federal and state regulations that are giving insurance giants “free rein to scam millions of seniors in Medigap, offering agents lavish vacations to steer unknowing beneficiaries into more expensive plans.”

“Regulators must act to make sure seniors aren’t getting fleeced,” said Warren, who noted that around 40% of Medigap enrollees had less than $40,000 in annual income in 2018.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/warren-insurance-medigap-scam

I have always thought that these so-called “advantage’ plans were nothing more than a scam to screw seniors out of what money they have….these insurance toads are unfeeling ass wipes…..and that includes the senior’s best friend, AARP….which pushes their own brand of ‘advantage’ policies.

Keep an eye on your finances there are slugs that will come for your money.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

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Leftists On Ukraine (A Pathetic Bunch)

There is so much more to the Ukraine saga than most people are willing to listen to and it can be seen here on IST.

I admit it I am a leftists and according to some uneducated dickwads that makes a ‘pinko’ or some other colorful name they invent …..I have been very vocal on the war in the Ukrainian territory and to some of those same dickwads that makes me in support of Putin (which is disingenuous and that is being polite)….

The whole situation is confusing for most of us on the American Left.

(I will try to keep it as simple as I can as to not befuddle those of limited mental capacity)

It is not that leftists support Putin’s war.  On the contrary, just like people in the moderate mainstream, most leftists see it as illegal, criminal and a blatant violation of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.

It is true that most people on the left believe the expansion of Nato to Russia’s borders since 1999 was disastrously wrong and unnecessary, and that Washington and its European allies bear most of the blame for poisoning relations between Russia and the West over the last thirty years.  A few people on the left argue that Nato’s enlargement strategy provoked Putin’s invasion,  but the vast majority have avoided the trap of claiming that Putin’s aggression was legitimate and justifiable.   They condemned it and still condemn it unreservedly.  However angry Russia may be about Nato nothing justifies invading a neighbouring state.

Leftists also accept that Ukraine has an absolute right to defend itself against foreign invasion and enlist help from other states to resist occupation. By the same token foreign states have the right to respond to Ukraine’s appeal for help, economic, political and military.  Those states include the United States, Britain and most members of Nato.

This is where the Left’s silence begins. The Left finds itself on the same side as the United States and rightwing governments in Britain, France, Italy and other European countries. It is an embarrassing position. We may well have differences with the US over Washington’s ulterior motives. Evidence suggests that Nato’s hawks have turned the crisis into a proxy war which aims to humiliate and bankrupt Russia and remove it as a respected player on the international stage.

The Left and Ukraine

The so-called Left is not the Left of your father…..it is a docile beast that has no stomach for confrontation…..and of course the buckets of cash from the lobbyists does not help.

Some us are still as vocal as we always have been….sadly few are listening or understand complexities.

Apparently too damn many have forgotten our endless wars…Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq…..I know before some civic minded person tries to point out that we are not fighting this war….true that….but listen to those that regurgitate the MSM’s bullshit and tell me they are not pulling for our entry.

Peace Out

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”