IBM Medicare Advantage 2023 Fortune article: Corporate MA plans less regulated than market MA plans

 There is a lot in this article that I didn't know and it made me wince because there is less government oversight for corporate sponsored Medicare Advantage plans than the plans available for purchase in the open market.  It is yet, another reason to be very wary of  IBM's forced march to use their plans:

https://fortune.com/2022/03/02/employers-medicare-advantage-health-insurance-retirees/

Updated 11/2/2022:

Even when there is government oversight for Medicare Advantage plans, they still try to make money any way they can:

https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2022/04/28/government-watchdog-reports-medicare-advantage-denying-or-delaying-medically-necessary-care

Updated again on 11/6/2022:

Finally, some congressional representatives, like Ron Wyden, are demanding more oversight of insurance companies selling Medicare Advantage plans. 

Unfortunately, there is NO oversight for Corporate Sponsored Medicare Advantage plans. Corporate Sponsored MA plans can promise you trips to the moon (which is equivalent to guaranteeing access to any Medicare doctor anywhere in the country) in the literature they mail to you because it isn't "marketing material".  These plans are not for sale in the general marketplace so they can say "yes we cover it" to any question you ask!  Don't believe anything unless they agree to write it in the policy they issue to you.  Then you have a better chance of overturning a denial (and they will deny), by pointing to your policy.

The LA Times has a nice summary of the newest congressional assessment of how vile insurance companies are in their marketing practices for Medicare Advantage plans and there is a link to the congressional report in the article:

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-11-06/medicare-enrollees-warned-about-deceptive-marketing-schemes

Updated 11/16/2022:  Newsweek opinion piece that is scathing about Medicare Advantage plans:

https://www.newsweek.com/how-medicare-advantage-scams-seniors-opinion-1759368

I heard another tragic Medicare Advantage story this past week.  The details are not worth writing about.  The denial of payment for a post treatment expense is about $90,000. They are telling the policy holder to pay that amount of money to a hospital because there wasn't a "pre-authorization" granted for the treatment.  That says it all.  How is that even possible? It's a Medicare Advantage Plan!