More Advantage?

There was a point a few years back in which UCOP folks wanted to move everyone under UC's retiree health plan to a Medicare Advantage plan - a privatized form of Medicare that now covers more than half of Medicare recipients - because the plans are cheap compared to traditional Medicare supplements. It appears that they are cheap because the feds overpay the private insurers who offer these plans. Congress seems to be gaining awareness of this issue. But whether it will produce a dramatic response is unclear. From the NY Times:

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity TV doctor, was confirmed along party lines by the Senate to lead the Medicare and Medicaid Services, which insures nearly half of all Americans. The future of both programs is the subject of fierce debate: Republicans are contemplating dramatic cuts to Medicaid, which serves low-income Americans, and Oz has been a vocal proponent of Medicare Advantage, the private insurance plans for older Americans, despite concerns that insurers are being overpaid...

Full story at: 

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/04/03/us/trump-news-updates/9f263010-32b1-5ce4-bd1a-fa57f7f93486?smid=url-share.

If Congress cracked down, the seeming attractiveness of the Medicare Advantage option in UC retiree health would diminish. But with Oz in charge...