Dispatches

STUDY MAKES CASE TO ‘ABOLISH’ MEDICARE ADVANTAGE. A new academic analysis published in JAMA Internal Medicine details the enormous sums that privatized Medicare Advantage plans have cost U.S. taxpayers in recent years and calls for the abolition of the program, which has been massively profitable for the insurance giants that dominate it, Jake Johnson noted at CommonDreams (6/10).

Citing the nonpartisan Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the paper notes that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have overcharged the federal government to the tune of $612 billion since 2007—and $82 billion last year alone.

MA plans—now used by more than half of the eligible Medicare population—utilize a range of tactics to reap larger payments from the federal government, which provides insurers a lump sum for each Medicare Advantage patient. The size of the payment depends on the enrollee’s health, which MA plans are notorious for portraying as worse than it is in order to receive heftier government payments.

“Paradoxically, despite those overpayments, MA plans spend 9% less on medical services than [fee-for-service] Medicare spends for comparable enrollees,” reads the new study. “If MA plans pay for less care, where do the overpayments go? Some pay for supplementary benefits, although plans do not disclose how much they spend on them, and MA enrollees do not get significantly more dental care or incur lower out-of-pocket dental costs than those in FFS Medicare. Instead, overhead and profit eats up the lion’s share.”

The study’s authors estimate that MA plans’ overhead from 2007 to 2024 was $592 billion, which is “equivalent to 97% of taxpayers’ $612 billion overpayments to them during that period.”

Dr. Adam Gaffney, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the new study, said in a statement that “Medicare Advantage is a bad deal for taxpayers.”

“Money that could be used to eliminate all copayments or shore up Medicare’s Trust Fund is instead lining insurers’ pockets,” said Gaffney. “And the private insurers keep Medicare Advantage enrollees from getting needed care by erecting bureaucratic hurdles like prior authorizations and payment denials.”

Gaffney and study co-authors Drs. Stephanie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein—co-founders of Physicians for a National Health Program (PHNP)—argue based on their examination of Medicare Advantage’s decadeslong history that “the time has come to declare MA a failed experiment and abolish it.”

“Medicare Advantage plans have, in effect, stolen hundreds of billions from taxpayers,” says Himmelstein, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School and a research associate at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. “And the private plans’ schemes also raise seniors’ Part B Medicare premiums. Even seniors who don’t choose to enroll in Medicare Advantage are subsidizing the private plans’ profits.”

The study’s authors observe that the elimination of Medicare Advantage would allow the federal government to use the roughly $88 billion in estimated MA overpayments for the coming year to instead “upgrade benefits for all Medicare beneficiaries.” Traditional Medicare typically does not cover dental, vision, or hearing services, which often leads people to choose MA plans.

“A smarter, thriftier way to expand benefits and lower out-of-pocket costs is possible for all Medicare beneficiaries, but first, we must eliminate MA and double down on traditional Medicare, covering all enrollees in an expanded and improved Medicare program,” the analysis concludes. “That would be a good deal for patients and taxpayers.”

Wendell Potter, a former insurance executive who has become a trenchant critic of Medicare Advantage, told Common Dreams that he agrees with the study’s authors that MA “should be eliminated.”

“Not only has it never saved taxpayers a dime since it was created during the George W. Bush administration, but it has cost us $592 billion over the last 17 years because of the high administrative costs inherent in the program and the way insurers have rigged the system to get paid excessively every year,” said Potter, president of the Center for Health and Democracy.

“The program is so entrenched, and the companies have so much political influence over Democrats as well as Republicans through campaign contributions and lobbying, that eliminating the program will be a heavy lift, at least in the near term,” Potter added. “That means that proposals to reform MA that address overpayments and abuses like prior authorization are essential and important for reform advocates to support.”

TRUMP’S GUILTY VERDICT DRIVING AWAY VOTERS HE CAN’T AFFORD TO LOSE. New polling from the progressive outfit Navigator Research shows that Donald Trump’s criminal conviction is poised to hurt him electorally among a critical bloc of swing voters: so-called double haters, or those who don’t like either Trump or President Joe Biden, Kerry Eleveld noted at DailyKos (6/7).

The survey, fielded during a five-day period following the verdict, had roughly similar findings as other snap polls conducted in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s conviction. The upshot: Majorities agree with the verdict, believe Trump is guilty, and think the trial was fair.

But among double haters—defined as voters who hold negative views of both Trump and Biden—the results were even more stark:

• 84% think Trump committed a crime as president.

• 76% say Trump is guilty and just 15% say he’s innocent.

• 74% think Trump believes he’s above the law.

• 66% think Trump should drop out of the race, while just 24% want him to stay in.

This group overwhelmingly believes the trial was fair, by nearly 30 points, 57% to 28%. And nearly 7 in 10 double haters say Trump was tried just like any other American, versus 31% who believe the proceeding was “rigged.”

Perhaps most importantly, nearly one-half of these voters said the conviction makes them less likely to vote for Trump: 48% less likely; 36% no impact; and 10% more likely.

The post-verdict feelings expressed by double haters stray sharply from those of Republican voters, who have quickly embraced the idea of electing a convicted felon to the White House.

Double haters proved critical to the 2016 outcome, breaking for Trump over Hillary Clinton in the final weeks of the election. This cycle, the group accounts for roughly 14% of the electorate, according to recent Marist polling conducted for NPR and PBS NewsHour.

Asked what worried them most about the conviction, 50% of double haters said that Trump thinks “he is above the law,” 35% said he is an “embarrassment to the country” and his party, and 26% said that he is “only running for president to get revenge and retribution.”

Overall, the Navigator poll found nearly two out of three Americans say Trump has committed a crime—the highest point in Navigator tracking of the issue.

TRUMP’S LOSING STREAK CONTINUES WITH NEW JERSEY LIQUOR LICENSE IN JEOPARDY. Donald Trump’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days continue, as Forbes reports that New Jersey’s attorney general is “weighing” whether or not he will revoke the liquor licenses of three of Trump’s golf clubs due to his conviction of 34 felonies. Trump is the sole owner of all three New Jersey golf clubs: Bedminster, Colts Neck, and Philadelphia, Walter Einenkel noted at DailyKos (6/10).

“New Jersey law prohibits issuing a liquor license to anyone who has been convicted of a crime ‘involving moral turpitude.’ A state handbook explains that those sorts of crimes typically involve ‘dishonesty, fraud or depravity’ severe enough to typically be punishable by more than a year in prison,” Forbes reported.

In 2019, New Jersey officials threatened Trump’s Colts Neck golf club with revocation of its liquor license after multiple infractions, including an incident in 2015 where the club allegedly overserved someone who was subsequently involved in a fatal car accident.

CNN reported (6/5) that the New York Police Department will revoke Trump’s license to carry a firearm now that he is a convicted felon. Trump reportedly had one of his three licensed guns “lawfully moved to Florida,” but the Sunshine State has similar prohibitions for felons owning firearms.

According to an overview of Florida’s clemency board’s rules regarding felony convictions, it “will not consider requests for firearm authority from individuals convicted in federal or out-of-state courts.”

Additionally, Trump’s conviction could prohibit him from traveling to 37 countries that ban convicted felons from entering, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

HOUSE R’S AMP UP THEIR REVENGE AGAINST ATTORNEY GENERAL. House Republicans are expected to pursue their revenge agenda on behalf of convicted felon Donald Trump, voting to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress. This is part of the mounting campaign among Republicans to enact retribution on President Biden, his administration officials, congressional Democrats and anyone else Trump puts on his enemies list. It’s a precursor to what they’ll do if they maintain the House, win the Senate, and Trump wins, Joan McCarter noted at DailyKos (6/10).

The House will send the resolution against Garland to the Justice Department for criminal referral if it passes. Which essentially means it’s going nowhere. The referral would go to the U.S. attorney in D.C., who would determine whether a crime was committed by Garland in refusing to turn over audio recordings of the interviews special counsel Robert Hur conducted with Biden in a classified documents inquiry, and if charges should be brought.

The U.S. attorney for D.C. is highly unlikely to find criminal action on Garland’s part, which would likely send the case to federal courts, and there wouldn’t be an outcome before the election. But if the election favors Republicans, Garland is going to be high on their list for locking up.

House Democrats have done a bang-up job of humiliating Republicans on this goose chase and are continuing to do so, but a little humiliation isn’t enough to deter them from doing Trump’s bidding.

“Desperate to blame someone—anyone—for the utter failure of this impeachment inquiry, Republicans have contrived an allegation that Attorney General Merrick Garland has impeded their impeachment inquiry by preventing them from hearing President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur by withholding the audio recording,” Democrats on the Oversight Committee said in a statement.

“In fact, Republicans, and the American public, can already read the full content of that interview.”

That’s absolutely true—Garland released the transcripts when Hur testified before Congress, a hearing that turned out to be a flop for Republicans. They want that audio, though, to use to show Biden unfavorably in their televised hearings. This is why the Justice Department is refusing to cede to the demand. It’s also why Biden claimed executive privilege to block release of the tapes.

White House Counsel Ed Siskel blasted GOP lawmakers’ attempts to get the tapes, insisting that they have no legitimate purpose for acquiring them, only a political one “to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes.”

TRUMP ACHIEVES ANOTHER FIRST: MEETING WITH A PROBATION OFFICER. Donald Trump met with an important new woman in his life: his probation officer, Mark Sumner noted at DailyKos (6/10). The meeting was a requirement of Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, and it will provide information to help establish the severity of his sentence at a July 11 hearing. It will also help determine whether he’ll be allowed to carry on normally while awaiting sentencing, or if restrictions are needed.

Trump didn’t have to show up in person. In an unusual concession, he was allowed to attend the meeting remotely from Mar-a-Lago.

While convenient for Trump, there’s another reason why he’s not being summoned to the 10th floor of the Manhattan Criminal Court Building, where others are required to appear. As the former commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections and Probation told NBC News, Trump’s presence, along with his entourage of Secret Service agents and reporters, would be “very disruptive” to the other defendants.

The purpose of this initial meeting was to prepare a report for Justice Juan Merchan to help determine Trump’s sentence.

The probation officer typically asks questions to learn more about the defendant’s personal history, employment record, obligations, and past criminal behavior. It’s hard to imagine that his past behavior—from money laundering at casinos to stealing from charities—is going to look good in that report. Neither will his many outstanding indictments.

In addition to meeting remotely, Trump also got to have his attorney Todd Blanche present during the interview, another deviation from how these things are usually handled. But it’s probably good to have someone on the call who can stay awake for the duration of the meeting.

Trump must have been asked during his interview whether he has been associating with anyone else who has a criminal record, which would violate the conditions of his parole and could result in his being forced to return to court or even being sent to jail.

Trump certainly has plenty of criminal associates to choose from: Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn and at least 10 other members of Trump’s past campaign teams are already convicted felons. Others, like Sidney Powell, have only pled guilty to misdemeanors but are still off limits to Trump.

Parole officers usually also interview family members and associates, which means that some people around Trump could have a chance to share what they really think of him in a non-public forum for the first time.

If Melania is ever going to give an interview that has an impact, this is her chance.

REPUBS ‘SALIVATING’ TO RAM THROUGH ANOTHER CORPORATE TAX GIVEAWAY IF TRUMP WINS. The crowning legislative achievement of Donald Trump’s first term in the White House was the passage of an unpopular tax bill that gave big corporations a massive windfall, disproportionately rewarded wealthy individuals despite being pitched as a boon for workers, and contributed trillions to the national debt.

With Trump running for another four years in power this November, Republicans are gearing up for a repeat, Jake Johnson noted at CommonDreams (6/10).

The Washington Post reported (6/10) that “Republicans in Congress are preparing to not just extend former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts if they win control of Washington in November’s elections, but also lower rates even more for corporations.”

“Now GOP lawmakers and some of Trump’s economic advisers are considering more corporate tax breaks—which could expand the national debt by roughly $1 trillion over the next decade, according to researchers at Stanford University and MIT,” the Post added.

The report on Republicans’ plans comes a month after the Congressional Budget Office estimated that extending provisions of the 2017 tax cut law that are set to expire next year would add $4.6 trillion to the U.S. deficit.

“GOP is salivating at more handout tax cuts to their corporate bosses and billionaires that will balloon the debt,” Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) wrote on social media (6/10). “Fiscal irresponsibility by the guys bought and paid for by huge corporations.”

During his 2020 campaign against Trump, President Joe Biden pledged to “get rid of the bulk of” the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), but he and his party have thus far failed to do so.

Slashing corporate taxes even further than the 2017 law—which cut the business rate from 35% to 21%—would reward many of the same corporations that have pushed up prices for consumers in recent years in a shameless attempt to pad their bottom lines. A recent analysis by the Groundwork Collaborative found that between April and September of last year, corporate profits drove more than half of U.S. inflation.

“Big corporations raised prices higher and faster than inflation, squeezing working families to rake in record profits,” Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) wrote on social media in response to the Post’s reporting. “So what’s the GOP’s plan? Even more corporate tax cuts and another $1 trillion to the debt. You can’t make this stuff up.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) similarly criticized the GOP’s plan to reward the corporations that have pushed costs onto consumers to boost their profit margins.

“The same corporations that have been price-gouging the American consumer at the grocery store, at the gas pump, and everywhere else are now spending their money loading up these Republican political action committees with the plan that the Republicans will deliver even more tax cuts,” Warren told the Post. “It’s obscene.”

ECONOMY GENERATES 272,000 JOBS IN MAY, UNEMPLOYMENT EDGES UP TO NEARLY 4%. The economy added 272,000 new jobs in May, again exceeding expectations. This is somewhat above its average of 230,000 per month over the last year. We still are not seeing a slowing of job growth, Dean Baker noted at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (6/7).

The unemployment rate edged up to nearly 4%, bringing an end to the 27-month streak of below 4%, which tied the streak from the late 1960s boom. But there is an asterisk, since the actual rate for May was 3.96%, rounded up to 4.

The average hourly wage grew at a 4.1% annual rate over the last three months, the same as its pace over the last year. This compares to the 3.3% annual rate for the two years prior to the pandemic when the inflation rate was slightly below the Fed’s 2% target. With the profit share still above its pre-pandemic level, and productivity possibly growing somewhat faster, this pace of wage growth may still be consistent with the Fed’s target.

Health care continued to lead job growth adding 68,300 in May, in line with its 65,000 average over the last year. Other big job gainers were local governments, which added 34,000 jobs, and restaurants, which added 24,600 jobs.

Construction and manufacturing continue to add jobs, 21,000 and 8,000, respectively. These are the most interest-sensitive sectors of the economy, so the continued job growth indicates the limited impact of the interest rate hikes to date. This is likely due to the peculiar circumstances of the pandemic, with the supply chain crisis leaving a large backlog of unfinished homes, coupled with the stimulus provided by the infrastructure bill, the CHIPS Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.

RNC’S LATEST AWFUL HIRES: A STOP THE STEAL GUY AND A CHRISTAN NATIONALIST. In its latest round of eyebrow-raising hires, the Republican National Committee has added a prominent “Stop the Steal” organizer and a former Trump administration official who advocates for Christian nationalism to help craft the party’s increasingly extreme platform, Walter Einenkel noted at DailyKos (6/7).

Ed Martin, an election denier, former chair of the Missouri Republican Party, and current president of the radical Phyllis Schlafly Eagles group, was hired as the deputy policy director of the RNC’s platform committee. Trump’s former Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought joins the cast of extremists as the new policy director on the platform committee.

The new hires are the latest example of Trump’s absolute takeover of the GOP. After getting former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel jettisoned, Trump successfully installed election fraud propagandist Michael Whatley and his meritless daughter-in-law Lara Trump as co-chairs.

Getting a job at the RNC now requires a blind fealty to Trump and, more importantly, subscribing to the cult-like delusions Trump demands of his subjects. Martin has proven his loyalty through his vocal support of the “Stop the Steal” movement, making a speech at festivities the night before the Jan. 6, insurrection, and marching to the Capitol on Jan. 6.

While there is no evidence that Martin trespassed on the Capitol building that day, he did tweet out some very sketchy statements during the insurrection.

“I’m at the Capitol right now. Abd I was at the POTUS speech earlier.

“Rowdy crowd but nothing out of hand. Ignore the #FakeNews”

11:53 AM • Jan 6, 2021

“Like Mardi Gras in DC today: love, faith and joy. Ignore #FakeNews”

11:57 AM • Jan 6, 2021

Both of those tweets were sent well after the Capitol building had been breached by rioters. Since the failed coup, Martin has been a vocal conspiracy theorist, according to NBC News, which reported that Martin narrated a video in which he said that an individual he dubbed “Mr. Coffee” had set up gallows outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 for a photo-op, suggesting that perhaps “Mr. Coffee” was working for the federal government. The basis of that claim is that the man goes and gets coffee, walking in the vague, general direction of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Martin titled one blog post on the subject “January 6th was Staged by Mr. Coffee.”

Martin earned himself a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee, whose members wanted to question him about his part in managing some of the logistics of that terrible day’s events. Martin was a no-show for his deposition to the committee.

Then there is Vought. Beside being the RNC’s new policy director, Vought is also the president of the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank. The organization’s latest mission is to get Trump to adopt “Christian nationalism” during his next administration.

Martin and Vought are just the latest election deniers to be given positions in the RNC. In April, Arizona Republicans tapped state Sen. Jake Hoffman for a position on the RNC. Hoffman is facing multiple indictments for his part in a “fake electors” scheme surrounding the 2020 election.

Trump is a grifter and his takeover of the GOP, and the RNC in particular, is in service of that grift. Recent polling suggests that Republicans are okay with letting the convicted felon use the RNC as a piggy bank for his legal woes, and GOP politicians seem willing to grovel as low as Trump asks them to.

From The Progressive Populist, July 1-15, 2024

Populist.com