United States Seniors: Bad Information from Left-Wing CBS on Medicare

It is pretty hard to do but the left-wing CBS web site has made dozens of errors recently either in an attempt to help we seniors or in an attempt to propagandize us. The errors are so bad and so frequent that it does not have the subtlety of propaganda. I think it is just bad research and writing. CBS says

• "Medicare has four parts (Parts A and B are often called "traditional Medicare")." No, Parts A and B are “Original Medicare”, not “traditional Medicare.” Traditional Medicare refers to combiining A and B with a private Medigap plan or group retiree insurance in a fee for service (FFS) arrangement where the person on Medicare can choose to go to any doctor that accepts Medicare (and that will give him or her an appointment of course). The most traditional way to get healthcare insurance when over 65 -- and still the most popular way -- is to combine A or both A and B with insurance from a former employer or union. But this group retiree insurance choice is becoming rarer and rarer.
• "Part A covers hospital expenses and is available for no additional premium if you've paid FICA taxes for at least 10 years." Sort of true. Part A covers acute-care hospital expenses but only if you are admitted to the hospital and with a per-incident deductible and lifetime limit. This Part A coverage does not usually include the expense of doctors that see you or who operate on you while admitted to the hospital. And Part A also covers a limited amount of skilled nursing facility (SNF) care—under very strict care plans—but only if the Medicare subscriber is first an admitted patient in an acute care hospital for three nights. There is no deductible for the SNF benefit but there are co-pays after 20 days and the benefit ends after 100 days (again, the number of days is not an entitlement; progress against the strict care plan is required).
• "Part b covers outpatient expenses, such as those for physicians and other health care professionals, and requires an additional premium." Again, half true. Part b also covers all hospital expenses not covered by Part A, which can be substantial. All Part B services require a 20% co-pay after a small annual deductible. About 20% of people on Medicare do not have to pay a premium if they apply for relevant state aid. About 20% of people on Medicare pay a substantial surtax on top of the standard Part B premium.
• "Part D covers prescription drugs and typically requires an additional premium." A cuple of problems in one sentence. Only low-income seniors that choose a particular plan would have no premium. And Part D covers only self-administered prescription drugs.
• "Part C is an alternative to traditional Medicare, called Medicare Advantage (MA). It combines coverage for parts A and B, and usually includes prescription drugs as well. MA plans are managed care plans that typically dictate the health care providers that you can use, similar to an HMO or PPO.” There are many errors in that paragraph. Not all Part C plans are called Medicare Advantage. They are not “similar to” an HMO or PPO; they are almost all HMOs or PPOs (as well as some special needs plans and other variations designed for people both on Medicare and Medicaid). Typically Part C plans include coverage for many more services than those covered by Original Medicare and Original Medicare with a private Medigap plan. At a minimum Part C plans include a limit on much a beneficiary would have to pay out of his or her own pocket for medical services. Original Medicare and most private Medigap plans do not have such a limit.
• "It's possible that retirees will incur substantial out-of-pocket expenses under traditional Medicare (Parts A and B), so these retirees will often buy Medigap policies at an additional premium to help cover such expenses." All depends what CBS means by "often." Medigap is actually only the third most popular way seniors supplement their Original Medicare. The person on Original Medicare and Medigap is still almost always exposed to complete financial ruin. Such a situation would be very very rare but avoiding such a situation is why one buys insurance, is it not?
• "This approach typically provides the most flexibility when it comes to choosing health care providers." This is basically true. For this reason, choosing original medicare and a private medigap plan is almost always the preference of someone that spends large portions of the year in two different residences (that is, snowbirds)
• "Insurance providers often review and change the features of their policies in an attempt to manage their costs." Very misleading since insurance providers all change feature to make their plan more popular or… for a thousand different reasons.  To the extent cost management is one of the reasons,  Medicare also constantly changes its rules. The biggest recent change is because of a half-a-trillion-dollar "cut" to hospital services over the next decade. Of course, the government is not taking the half-trillion and making the Medicare trust fund more solvent. It is giving the money put into the trust fund (or will put into the trust fund) and buying people not yet 65 health insurance.