Medicare Tool Gives Seniors the Wrong Insurance Information

[James48]

The $11 Million Dollar Medicare Tool That Gives Seniors the Wrong Insurance Information

The Trump administration redesigned the online Medicare Cost Finder for seniors to compare complex health insurance options. But consumer advocates have identified instances when the tool has malfunctioned and given inaccurate plan and price data.

By AKILAH JOHNSON,PROPUBLICA ( in Govexec.com)

The federal government recently redesigned a digital tool that helps seniors navigate complicated Medicare choices, but consumer advocates say it’s malfunctioning with alarming frequency, offering inaccurate cost estimates and creating chaos in some states during the open enrollment period.

Diane Omdahl, a Medicare consultant in Wisconsin, said she used the tool Friday to research three prescription drug plans for a client. The comparison page, which summarizes total costs, showed all but one of her client’s medications would be covered. When Omdahl clicked on “plan details” to find out which medicine was left out, the plan finder then said all of them were covered.

So she started checking the plans’ websites, and it turns out there are two versions of the same high blood pressure medication. One is covered. The other is not. The difference in price: $2,700 a month.

In Nebraska, miscalculations offered through the new Medicare Plan Finder were so worrisome that the state in late October temporarily shut down a network of about 350 volunteer Medicare advisers for a day because without the tool, narrowing the numerous choices — more than 4,000 Medicare plans are available nationwide — down to three top selections would be nearly impossible.

Days later, EnvisionRxPlus, a prescription drug plan, sent an email to independent insurance brokers nationwide recommending they not use the Medicare Plan Finder because of incorrect estimates on drug prices and patient deductibles. (It’s a warning they had yet to retract some two weeks later.)

Minnesota’s Association of Area Agencies on Aging said in a news release on Nov. 14 that the Medicare Plan Finder “continues to produce flawed results,” including inaccurate premium estimates, incorrect prescription drug costs and inaccurate costs with extra help subsidies.

MORE:

https://www.govexec.com/technology/2019/11/11-million-dollar-medicare-tool-gives-seniors-wrong-insurance-information/161542/

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Intentional, they want us to dislike Medicare so they can take it away from us

LET ME KNOW when the REST OF YOU have HAD ENOUGH and maybe


THEN

we can meet in the streets where we will NOT be polite!

[PSPS]

2. This is by design

1. "The federal government recently redesigned a digital tool that helps seniors navigate complicated Medicare choices"

"Recently redesigned" means it was performed at the direction of a trump crony (i.e., criminal)

2. The plans are intentionally designed to be overwhelmingly complicated to foster making the wrong selection so you can be ripped off. What you were intentionally misled to believe becomes apparent only after you've enrolled and wonder why you're paying more than their deceptive plan description led you to believe.

[lunasun]

3. Redesigned to make people think Medicare sucks and the admins don't know what they are doing

Who would want that plan right?

[Tanuki]

4. You can thank Seema Verma for this. It's no accident.

https://pnhp.org/news/how-seema-verma-botched-up-iowas-medicaid-program/