The Liberal Medicare Advantage Revolt

A big political story this year is likely to be Democrats turning on their White House minders as the harmful and unpopular parts of the Affordable Care Act ramp up. On the heels of the recent 79-20 Senate uprising against the 2.3% medical device tax, now comes the surge of Democrats pleading on behalf of Medicare Advantage.

Liberals have claimed for years to hate this program, but by now Advantage provides private insurance coverage to more than one of four seniors. And those seniors like it.

However, the ObamaCare true believers who run the Health and Human Services Department don't answer to voters, and they have written draft regulations that cut Medicare Advantage even more deeply than Congress mandated in the Affordable Care Act. Those cuts will bite hardest in states like Oregon (where 42% of Medicare beneficiaries use Advantage), or Florida (37%), New York (33%), California (37%) and Arizona (38%).

The extra cuts stem from HHS's discretion and were dropped from the sky with no warning in February. More than a few Democrats seem to have caught the anvil. Some 139 Members of Congress have formally objected in 16 letters to HHS so far, and the signers include 26 Democrats in the House and 13 in the Senate.

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