I totally agree with Barbara Freidman’s letter (“Medicare at risk from Trump,” March 23) regarding Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare has worked from day one to provide health care for all seniors, and this is why there has been a movement for “Medicare for All.” But now our whole health care system is propelled by greed and profit versus actual health care.
Medicare Advantage plans are glorified health maintenance organizations. They deny treatment and have a preferred network where you are told to go to receive care, and they require referrals and preauthorizations for treatment. My parents had Original Medicare and were never denied, nor ever told which doctor they could see. My mother had a rare form of cancer, and we saw many doctors just by picking up the phone and making an appointment. I can’t even imagine if we had to get preapprovals or preauthorizations every time.
But now of course there is money to be made, so insurance brokers are pushing the Medicare Advantage plans because they get a commission. I had a broker hang up on me when I said I would be choosing Original Medicare.
We are moving in the wrong direction. We should be moving toward universal health care, not toward privatization. When did health care become a for-profit endeavor? From what I have seen, people seem to be happy with their Medicare Advantage plans until they get sick and the denials start — that is when they start calling it the Medicare “Dis-Advantage” plan.
— Irene Kazenas, Oak Brook
No ‘advantage’ to these plans
Letter writer Sharon Joseph tells us that she knows lots of folks who have Medicare Advantage plans that they like very much (“View of Medicare Advantage plans,” March 27). And she’s right that these plans are required to cover what Original Medicare covers. But maybe there’s something she’s missing. And that is that Advantage plans, which are run by private insurance companies, are not eleemosynary operations by any means. They work fine for people who are basically in good health, but for those who should happen to run up big medical bills, they have the nasty habit of dropping these people from their Advantage plan. When they do that, the affected individuals have the option of joining up with Original Medicare, but to do that might take a long time, and it will be far more expensive than if they had taken it when they turned 65.
And what that shows is that the “advantage” of these plans accrues mainly to the insurance companies that sell and aggressively market their plans.
— George Honig, Chicago
Imagine this kind of coach
March Madness has begun and with it the growing excitement of watching the men’s and women’s teams compete. They show what hard work and determination can accomplish. Their coaches work to inspire and instill character and sportsmanship.
Now imagine a different contest in which the coach of a team doesn’t respect the rules and norms of the game. In which the coach lost an earlier game and refused to accept the defeat. Instead, he urged his fans to storm the court and assault the referees and opposing players. He even encouraged his fans to assault his own assistant coach because the assistant refused to break the rules.
Imagine a game in which the coach’s players are so intimidated by him that they “go along” because they fear he won’t let them play. Imagine a coach who name-calls not only opposing players but his own players with taunts such as “crooked,” “pencil neck,” “ugly,” “fat,” “sick,” “crazy,” “lyin’,” “wacky,” “slimeball” and “tricky” and more that are too obscene to list. Imagine a coach who openly lies about his team’s performance and his record. Imagine a coach who demeans the referees when calls go against him and who says the game is rigged.
Unfortunately, you don’t need to imagine.
If this is allowed to continue, we are going to lose confidence in the game and its outcome. The only way to restore it is to soundly defeat this coach and his compliant team.
I’m cheering for the team that supports democracy.
— Ed Anderson, Concord, Illinois
Why I won’t back ‘fair’ maps
Jim Nowlan is upset that the Illinois Supreme Court did not revoke the law license of former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke (“Illinois Supreme Court embarrasses itself again with Edward Burke,” March 22). He thinks it may be because Burke helped get the judges appointed. He forgot to note that all of these judges have to run for reelection. Burke is already going to jail, so that’s basically water under the bridge.
The solution he proposes is that we end gerrymandering in Illinois. It sounds reasonable, but Nowlan is ignoring the elephant in the room. How does he feel about gerrymandering in the neighboring states of Iowa and Missouri and in the distant states of Texas and Arizona?
Legislators in Republican-led states have made it clear that they have no intention of adopting reforms to end gerrymandering. So if we end it here, we will have a more evenly balanced legislature while other states remain strongly Republican. As a Democrat, I strongly object to this scenario.
In past years when the petitions went around to institute “fair” maps, I have invariably refused to sign. I will do the same this time, and if it comes up for a vote, I will vote no.
Nowlan’s stance is not based on principle. He just wants more Republicans elected. And he uses demagoguery to mask his real intentions.
— Martin Celnick, Springfield
Point doesn’t help argument
In her letter in the March 24 Tribune (“Concern over liability insurance”), Linda Townsend defends individuals who enter the country without authority and then operate an automobile without insurance. She thinks that’s OK. I assume she would change her tune if she were the victim.
She also makes an unrelated point that the CEO of State Farm made $24 million in 2022. A Google search reveals that State Farm has 94 million policyholders. The CEO is responsible for all those policyholders, as well as 19,000 agents and 61,000 employees.
His stewardship costs each policyholder the princely sum of 25 cents.
You know the old saying: There are lies, damn lies and statistics in support of a weak argument.
— Theodore J. Harvatin, Springfield
Deciding the retirement age
A photo in the March 25 Tribune (“Looming battle over Social Security and Medicare needs reasoned debate”) shows the men who will reset the retirement age of most Americans. Men who sit at a desk all day and who will retire with medical benefits and a pension.
Not all jobs are equal. Some people work under difficult conditions — laundry workers, meat processing laborers, roofers in extreme summer heat, servers with sore feet, assembly workers who may have a bad back or aching knees but who still must stand all day, etc. The thought of four more years could be staggering.
Maybe the Republican Study Committee members should stand in the shoes of these workers for a week before making a decision. First, eliminate the salary cap — $168,600 — to be taxed for Social Security. Also, the money collected should be paid only to retirees, not for disability payments, etc. Congress should fund that independently.
Not an answer, but a start.
— Jackie Nussbaum, Wilmette
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