That's what the Wall Street Journal told its readers today. That's pretty good reporting if the the WSJ reporters can tell us what insurers really think. Most of us just have to rely on what they say. Of course, it is not surprising that insurers say that paying billions of extra dollars each year to have Medicare beneficiaries covered by private insuers rather than the traditional Medicare program improves their care. That certainly sounds better than saying that this extra cost increases insurance company profits. It is news that insurers actually believe that they are improving care. Unfortunately the WSJ does not tell us how it knows what insurers actually believe. This front page story also perpetuates the myth that minorities are especially likely to benefit from the high cost Medicare Advantage plans. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities showed, this claim is based on ignoring all the low-income minorities that receive Medicaid benefits. If these beneficiaries are included in the mix, the minorities are actually somewhat less likely than the elderly population as a whole to use the the Medicare Advantage program.
--Dean Baker