The GOP helped the health insurance companies to a bonanza in 2003 when they

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changed Medicare Plus to Medicare Advantage. This is one of the leading causes for 'breaking the bank' of Medicare and increasing health care costs.

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,_Improvement,_and_Modernization_Act

The attraction for health insurers is the large difference between normal healthcare premiums and the federal Medicare premium. Typical health insurance premiums (for someone working or healthy enough to be allowed to enroll) are generally $150 to $350 a month, depending on the level of service desired, health status, and deductibles. For a healthy Medicare-eligible enrollee, the health insurer can receive around $800 a month, more than double the premium for younger citizens. The federal government pays the Medicare Advantage plan more to cover the care of a Medicare patient than the federal government pays through the regular Medicare plan. This federal premium can increase to $2000 a month through a complex risk adjustment involving the health status of the eligible enrollee.<11> This allows the plans to offer more benefits than regular Medicare and these plans are being aggressively marketed. Among other benefits, the senior gets an immediate financial boost, as many plans let them skip paying Part B and Part D premiums, waive usual deductibles, and waive copays, all while covering preventive physicals and providing a prescription drug benefit. While the insurance plan can realize immense initial profits, every single Medicare enrollee, no matter their underlying health status, can be expected to undergo between one and six life threatening major illnesses before they die. The pathology and illnesses associated with aging are innumerable and ultimately unbeatable.

The ultimate economic viability of a Medicare Advantage plan will not be known for 10 to 15 years. The political will to continue paying extra to shift Medicare eligible citizens to private insurance may not survive through economic downturns. For seniors, the initial cost savings is balanced against insurance companies’ healthcare rationing through restrictive prescription drug formularies, requiring documentation of medical necessity for imaging studies such as CT scans and MRIs, decreasing physician access, and rationing of lab tests, and ancillary care.

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1. Most people don't even know Medicare Advantage is private insurance.

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2. Hell, half the seniors on Medicare don't know it's a government run program!