Humana uses scare tatctics in letters to seniors

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus accused health insurer Humana Inc. of using “scare tactics” in letters urging senior citizens to oppose health- care overhaul legislation.

At Baucus’s request, Medicare officials are investigating letters in which Humana told customers that senior citizens may lose benefits under a health-care overhaul. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in a Sept. 18 letter to Humana, ordered the health insurer to stop the mailings and remove the materials from its Web site.

Bloomberg


From Huffington Post
Parts of the letter sent include

Now, to pay for health care reform, some in Washington have again proposed deep cuts to the Medicare Advantage program. This time, the proposed cuts could be as high as $177 billion from the Medicare Advantage program if people like you who appreciate the Medicare Advantage value don’t stand up and have your voice heard. This means seniors and disabled individuals in the Medicare Advantage program, like you, may be asked to pay for nearly a third of the initial projected cost of health care reform through higher Medicare Advantage premiums and copays and lower benefits and choices.


Read more at: www.huffingtonpost.com... Read more at: www.huffingtonpost.com...

Humana seems to think it could lose big time.

At the end of 2008, about 12.5 percent of Medicare Advantage subscribers were Humana clients, and Humana receives a just over half its revenue from Medicare Advantage. Read more at: www.huffingtonpost.com...

I am becoming more middle of the road about health care reform, perhaps because it is stalled now. We do need reform though.

However the above is pretty low and completely self serving.