Best Program Congress is Trying to Kill
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton want insurers to be forced to accept all enrollees for the same premium—regardless of health condition. The result: health plans will run away from high-cost patients and underprovide to them if they do enroll. By contrast, the Medicare Advantage program pays more for high-cost patients. The result: health plans actively compete for the chronically ill and have enrolled more than a million of them in "special needs" plans. So what does Congress want to do about it? Kill the program, of course (see WSJ article here).
Medicare advantage enrollees pay more for their special needs. It is a program that not all high-cost patients can afford. Considering all Medicare enrollees are aged or disabled, it is likely that many are special needs. Double edge sword maybe. It all comes down to sacrifice.