Medicare Advantage is flawed and hurting seniors. Don’t let Congress protect it | Opinion
Medicare Advantage (MA) is failing seniors. Yet, insurance lobbyists are pressuring Congress to sign a letter promising to shield MA from scrutiny. We must speak up before our Congress members support this broken system.
Medicare Advantage plans have a track record of overcharging taxpayers through inflating cost by private insurers and wasting billions that could fund better care. Medicare Advantage plans also have wrongly denied necessary care, according to a 2023 federal report. Unlike traditional Medicare, MA limits healthcare choices by restricting access to trusted doctors and specialists.
Instead of protecting corporate profits, our Congress members should demand accountability and real solutions for seniors. Tell your lawmakers not to sign the industry’s deceptive letter. Urge them to stand up for seniors, not insurance companies.
Dr. Susan Rucker, Charlotte
Troops in Gaza
Congress needs to pass a law immediately banning U.S. troops from Gaza and the West Bank as well as condemning the idea that Palestinians should be removed. I’m old enough to remember when President Reagan sent troops to Lebanon, and it ended disastrously. Forced removal of people from their homeland is not consistent with American values. This is another “Trail of Tears” on a more massive scale. Stop it now.
Tom Fielder, Charlotte
Soldiers blamed
President Donald Trump blamed the terrible plane-helicopter crash on soldiers flying the helicopter. It may very well have been their fault. However, as of this writing, the helicopter’s black box has yet to be found. No one knows whose fault it was.
Those soldiers enlisted to serve their country in the noblest way possible. Their grief-stricken love ones may have been watching as the president blamed them. The job of commander-in-chief is to bring comfort to the afflicted in certain times.
When soldiers fall, it is time to stop the MAGA culture war act. If you love America, you should be outraged by this behavior. Write to your congressman and tell them that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. If you do not, he will do the same thing if another tragedy occurs.
Jay Cordell, Lancaster, SC
RFK Jr. and polio
Robert Kennedy Jr. seems to be on his way to his dream job: controlling the health of the entire nation, watching over malaria, HIV, bird flu, which is becoming a real problem. He has said the polio vaccine doesn’t work. How long will it take for iron lungs to make a comeback?
Search the internet for polio and iron lung, and see for yourself what Kennedy does not believe in and what we could be facing. Vaccines changed the world!
William Reaves, Charlotte
Trump, Musk
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have framed their activities as saving American taxpayers from wasteful government spending. Their MAGA followers all applaud. But the real problem is fraud by the private sector and citizens — people who defraud Medicare and Medicaid, individuals and corporations who don’t pay their taxes and corporations who overcharge the government through overruns and waste.
Frame it that way and suddenly the villain isn’t government, but the private sector. Trump would never frame it this way because it doesn’t play well among his base, and God forbid he should go after wealthy tax evaders or large companies like SpaceX that rip off the government.
Leslie Goldfarb, Charlotte
Birkdale Village
The proposed Birkdale Village in Huntersville is not smart development. It should be safe, managed, accessible, required and timely.
Increased traffic will further erode safety. When emergency vehicles struggle around neighborhood corners because of overflow retail parking, those seconds can mean life and death.
Any new development should come with confidence that it will be managed and completed. Projects approved in 2021 are still incomplete.
New development should be accessible to all citizens, yet prior development wiped out handicapped parking in the Village circle.
Development should correspond to demand. Absent proof of demand for Class A office space, the current proposal should be rejected.
A good thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing. Construction would overlap with the widening of Sam Furr, making access and egress next to impossible.
Julia Kiewit, Huntersville