Medicare Advantage plans, which are swiftly growing in popularity among senior citizens, have at times delayed or denied beneficiaries’ access to medical care – even though the requests met Medicare coverage rules, a federal watchdog said Thursday.

The report from the inspector general’s office of the Department of Health and Human Services is the latest red flag related to inappropriate denials by Medicare Advantage plans, which are run by private health care insurers. Annual federal audits have highlighted “widespread and persistent problems related to inappropriate denials of services and payment,” the office said.

Medicare Advantage plans at times deny seniors access to medical care, federal watchdog finds

One of the most ridiculous things I have heard from a health care insurance company in a while.

I mean, really, you're having surgery and the surgery goes a little long and the insurance company decides to not cover the extra anesthesia? What were they thinking? However, under the new administration maybe they will get a law passed to allow this abomination.

private equity groups need to be forbidden by the feds from controlling emergency rooms.

I agree. It's getting out of hand. Also, when you sign in at a hospital for a procedure they have you sign a form acknowledging that some of the doctors, etc. may not actually work for the hospital, thus would have to be checked out separately to see if your insurance covers their practice. How are you going to do that at the last minute when you are checking in? How do you find out who each of your caregivers work for?

and until we have medicare for all, this is what we will get. The insurance companies are just doing their job...making money for investors and CEOs

This video only posts on group pages. I can't share it on my account. Can any computer savvy people tell me why? (link...)

The strategy targets kids covered through the company’s state-contracted Medicaid plans, funded by the government for the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable patients. To manage Medicaid benefits, states often pay private insurers a fixed amount of funds per patient, regardless of the frequency or intensity of services used. When companies spend less than the allotted payment, they are typically allowed to keep some or all of what remains, which federal investigators and experts acknowledge may be incentivizing insurers to limit care.

UnitedHealth Is Strategically Limiting Access to Critical Treatment for Kids With Autism