MAGAfication of the federal government: Ripping the band-aid off

Ripping the band-aid off

By now it is clear what djt and MAGA elites are doing. They are gutting the entire federal system that protects and serves average citizens and the public interest. At the same time, they are directing the power and wealth flow from the people and public interest to parts of the government that protects and serves special interests and their wealth. dkt and MAGA elites plan to privatize as much of federal government functions and services as possible, as fast as possible. Services that are not privatizable will just disappear. The impact of the wealth and power flow is going to get very ugly, very soon for a lot of average people. The pain is already starting to be felt.

A personal anecdote: A woman in her 80s living in Oregon and relying on Medicaid just got kicked out. She voted for djt in 2024. She was told she was no longer qualified for Medicaid. She doesn't know exactly why she lost her health care benefits. Presumably she told why she lost her health care in dense legalese that she didn't read or couldn't understand. Her response was sad: "Gosh, I hope this wasn't Trump". It was Trump. The poor dear, she's been MAGAfied & shafted.

Poisoning Medicare

News reporting: MAGA wants to privatize Medicare. The NYT reports (not paywalled) that a new quasi-privatization effort simply adopts barriers to health care access that the private sector already uses. Those barriers are enthusiastically hated by millions of people who have private health care. 

• The Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction Model (WISeR) represents a significant shift in traditional Medicare's approach. AI-powered prior authorization is now required for services previously covered without pre-approval. Starting January 1, 2026, Medicare beneficiaries in Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington will face new barriers to accessing certain medical procedures.

• Millions of older adults (like me! 👍) chose traditional Medicare specifically to avoid the prior authorization hassles associated with private sector, for-profit Medicare Advantage plans. Now the same restrictive practices and barriers are coming to traditional Medicare. That eliminates one of its primary advantages. 

• The program uses artificial intelligence algorithms similar to those that have faced significant criticism in Medicare Advantage plans. Studies show that AI tools have been "accused of producing high rates of care denial, in some cases 16 times higher than is typical". These systems have been subject to multiple high-profile lawsuits because they enable fast, easy denial of many claims.

• Special interests get rewarded for denying medial care. Contracted companies get a percentage of the savings generated from rejections. That is a direct financial incentive to deny claims for profit. This puts companies at direct odds with clinicians and patients. Profit over patient care is the goal.

• The wealth and power flow: The program transfers decision power from Medicare beneficiaries and their doctors to private technology companies with profit motives. This incentives prioritizing profit over patient care. The same companies that manage prior authorization for criticized Medicare Advantage plans can now their reach into traditional Medicare. Consumers will be shafted, but companies will profit nicely.

It's clear that we're going to get MAGAfied whether we like it or not. I'm not gonna like it. But I'm just a pipsqueak with no power. I don't have the hundreds of millions of dollars it takes to buy government services, perks, benefits and protections from djt. Bummer!

Q: How much did insurance companies have to spend on "free speech" buying $TRUMP meme coin and donating to his campaign**, library and whatever else djt wants to spend money on himself for?  

** Regarding his political campaign, one can reasonably presume it's for when he illegally runs for his 3rd term on office. That's just fair & balanced.