Citizen Cartwright

Note to readers

I haven’t come across anything to summarize this morning. So I’ll just wish you a good day!

In the news

One of world’s largest collections of prehistoric rock art discovered in Amazon rainforest

 

BBC News: What were the motives behind the assassination of Iran nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh?

 

Supreme Court to hear arguments Monday in Trump bid to bar illegal immigrants from census totals

WPost: Supreme Court ruling relieved religious organizations from some coronavirus-related restrictions

 

NYTimes: Trump EPA’s final deregulatory rush runs into open staff resistance

 

AP: Trump administration moves ahead on 'gutting' bird protections

 

Congress returns for 2- or 3-week session with coronavirus aid, federal funding unresolved

 

Wisconsin finishes recount, confirming Biden’s victory over Trump

 

Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejects lawsuit challenging election

 

AP: Biden win hides dire warning for Democrats in rural U.S.

 

To attract Latinos, Democrats have to expand strategy in 2022

 

New Yorker: 'How venture capitalists are deforming capitalism’

Note to readers

Even before this time of disease, Thanksgiving was a time of dis-ease for many of us Americans. Some have had problems with a celebration at odds with the facts about Europeans’ interactions with Native Americans. Others have dreaded the interactions with their dysfunctional family. And others have resented cooking on demand, and the resulting food comas.

In 2020, there’s the additional dis-ease of celebrations in person and the loneliness — or fear of loneliness — in spending the day alone. For those of us with electronic access, there’s the option of being present in absentia. There are the options of treating ourselves to the bath, binge-watch or book we normally don’t have time for. There are the options of reframing (looking differently at the situation), acceptance and gratitude for the myriad things we do have to be thankful for.

No matter what, please know that my warm wishes are with you.

See you on Monday, Nov. 30.

If ads make it seem Medicare Advantage is a no-brainer best choice, please read this

First, my thanks to the reader who directed me to an article on this topic.

 

Seniors have until Dec. 7 to make changes to their Medicare coverage — and ads with actor Danny Glover and NFL legend Joe Namath are urging people to sign up for Medicare Advantage.

In addition to prescription drug coverage, many Medicare Advantage plans offer benefits unavailable through original Medicare, including dental, vision, hearing and even fitness programs, meals and transportation. 

 

When Medicare was created in 1965, it was envisioned as a social insurance program. All eligible workers would pay into the system during their working years via the payroll tax and pay uniform premiums when they enrolled at age 65 — and they all would receive the same coverage, says The New York Times.

 

But privatization of Medicare began in the 1990s, and Medicare Advantage is provided by private insurers.

Kiplinger, a respected personal finance publisher, says it’s been inundated by questions as a result of the media blast by companies selling Medicare Advantage plans, and it asked Linda Goodwin, a Medicare expert and author of the booklet “Solving the Puzzle of Medicare,” for information.

Goodwin says: “The ads on television are delivering a message to those new to Medicare that Part C Medicare Advantage is superior to original Medicare. The other thing that often happens is when you call Medicare for more information you may start to receive calls from Advantage plan companies trying to sell their plans. Is this a coincidence, or has your information been supplied by Medicare to other companies?”

There can be disadvantages to Medicare Advantage.

You’ll likely have to see a doctor or other provider in the plan’s network. That means if you have a health crisis, you might not have coverage for seeing a specialist you want, says CNBC.

Unlike original Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans come with out-of-pocket maximums that can be as high as $7,550 in 2021 for in-network coverage before the plan pays 100 percent of covered services. The in- and out-of-network maximum is $11,300.

An aspect of coverage that can catch people by surprise is the hospitalization cost under a Medicare Advantage plan, CNBC says. Original Medicare comes with a Part A deductible — $1,484 for 2021 — when you’re admitted to the hospital, but there are no copays for the first 60 days of that inpatient care. By contrast, Advantage Plans often have a daily copay, which can result in a higher cost.

Generally, the lower the premium, the more you’ll pay in cost-sharing, says CNBC.

Some plans may allow you to see providers across the country, but others limit you to emergency-only coverage if you’re outside your coverage area.

 

In rural areas, availability of Medicare Advantage plans tends to be limited. In 82 counties across the country, no plans are available.

The perks of Medicare Advantage tend to appeal to people in better health, while restrictions on medical services make the insurer-run plans less attractive to people in need of more healthcare, says David Meyers, a healthcare researcher at Brown University.

“During beneficiaries’ first twelve months of Medicare eligibility, beginning at age sixty-five, federal law requires insurers to offer guaranteed issue for Medigap plans without restrictions for preexisting conditions or any other sociodemographic factor,” Meyers and his colleagues wrote in a Health Affairs article last year. "Insurers also are prohibited from charging higher premiums for preexisting conditions.”

But people lose this federal protection under a Medicare Advantage plan. Just eight states have laws that can preserve some access to the supplemental insurance for people seeking to switch back to traditional Medicare: Alaska, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington, Brown and his colleagues wrote.

That’s why a switch to Medicare Advantage may be costly for people who would like to switch back to traditional Medicare during a subsequent enrollment period to deal with a serious illness.

“Medicare beneficiaries with complex care needs often face a higher burden of costs and may benefit from a greater continuity of care,” Meyers and his colleagues wrote. “In most states these enrollees may face significant barriers to enrollment in Medigap that may increase their exposure to high out-of-pocket spending and lead to disruptions in the continuity of care if they need to switch between MA and traditional Medicare.”

Tricia Neuman, executive director of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s program on Medicare policy, says that given the coronavirus pandemic’s risk to older people, they may want to consider traditional Medicare’s potential advantages in case of a serious illness.

 

Here is advice from Kaiser Health News on how to choose the best plan for you during Medicare's current open enrollment period.

The good news, says CNBC, is that if you enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan during the current enrollment period and realize later it’s not a good fit, you can change your coverage between Jan. 1 and March 31. 

 

And if you choose a Medicare Advantage plan when you're first eligible for Medicare and aren’t happy with it, you can make a change within the first year of joining, says Medicare’s 2021 handbook (page 74).

Also in the news

Ethiopian leader rejects international ‘interference’ in government’s conflict with Tigray region

 

Scotland becomes first country to address ‘period poverty’ by making menstrual products free

 

AP analysis: In Biden’s Cabinet picks, 'competence is making a comeback'

 

Bernie Sanders: 'How do we avoid future authoritarians? Winning back the working class is key' 

 

Purdue Pharma pleads guilty to 3 federal criminal charges over handling of its addictive painkiller OxyContin

 

It’s Native Americans' 50th annual National Day of Mourning where Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Mass.

 

Vox: 'Giving thanks may make your brain more altruistic’

 

NYTimes: Evidence increases that an early mutation made coronavirus pandemic harder to stop

 

People should know the coronavirus vaccine may cause some flu-like symptoms, CDC experts say

Note to readers

I've run out of time this morning trying to get information on ubiquitous ads right now urging seniors to switch to Medicare Advantage. If you've come across any articles, please send them to me.

In the news

China launches mission to bring back material from surface of the moon

 

Federal government formally starts transition to Biden, as Trump faces more legal and procedural defeats

 

Biden transition website’s running list of nominees, appointees, senior White House staff 

 

After criticism, Dianne Feinstein to step down as top Democrat on Senate Judiciary Committee

 

Texas, Louisiana can ban federal Medicaid funding of Planned Parenthood, federal appeals court rules

 

General Motors switches to California’s side in air pollution fight with Trump

 

KHN: California law banning toxic chemicals in cosmetics, shampoos, hair straighteners will transform industry

Why Democrats need to listen to these Rust Belt mayors

"Every four years, voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky are told how important they are to American industry, but once the election is over, nothing happens,” say the mayors of cities in what once was America's industrial heartland, in The Washington Post.

 

"The United States now has a president-elect who comes from our region originally and is more likely to understand what we need to revive it. We, the mayors of eight cities, are banding together to demand real investment in our shared region, which has fueled the U.S. economy for generations yet never gets the attention it deserves.”

 

The mayors — of Pittsburgh; Youngstown, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Cincinnati; Huntington, W.Va.; Morgantown, W.Va.; and Louisville — are calling for a Marshall Plan for Middle America.

 

In a 1947 speech at Harvard University, Secretary of State George Marshall advanced the idea of a European self-help program to be financed by the United States. The program aimed to rehabilitate the economies of 17 western and southern European countries in the wake of World War II "in order to create stable conditions in which democratic institutions could survive," says Britannica.

 

The votes of Rust Belt workers were pivotal to President Trump’s win in 2016. 

 

I was born in the Rust Belt and have seen the suffering of relatives who stayed there. Most of them became Trump supporters.

 

A Marshall Plan? Maybe not. But this seems to me to be Democrats’ chance to create stable conditions in which democratic institutions can survive in the Rust Belt.

Also in the news

G-20 summit ends with support for coronavirus vaccine for all, environment, economy

 

Politico Magazine: Observers from overseas on how the U.S. election 'meltdown' looks to them

 

Trump administration moves to box in Biden on foreign policy, but many actions can be withdrawn or amended

 

Biden expected to nominate Antony Blinken, his former national security adviser, to be secretary of state 

 

Federal judge issues preliminary injunctions against Trump appointee Michael Pack over changes at Voice of America

 

Politico: GOP's fears future Trump political activities will make it impossible for Republican Party to turn the page

 

Trump campaign parts ways with attorney Sidney Powell after vote-switching claim

 

BBC News: Oxford University/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine shows 70 percent protection

 

FDA allows emergency use of Regeneron antibody drug Trump received

As Trump continues to push election falsehoods, Biden team dispatches emissaries to GOP

While we citizens have a responsibility to keep up with what’s going on, we’re not obligated to focus on the “frantic steps” seen by election law experts as “the last, dying gasps of the Trump campaign” and enumerated by The Associated Press.

 

So let’s quickly go over the latest developments and get on with our day:

 

Experts say President Trump has almost no chance of reversing the election. "But his repetition of baseless claims that the race was rigged is undermining public confidence in the election system while instilling in his supporters the idea that Biden will be an illegitimate president,” says an AP explainer.

 

The explainer summarizes the status of GOP election challenges in six states.

 

Here is AP’s fact check of false claims by Trump’s legal team.

 

Meanwhile, President-elect Biden’s team is projecting calm as it enlists Republicans and Democrats from previous administrations and business and interest group leaders to talk with GOP leaders to end the transition stalemate, reports Politico. Biden’s people "want to avoid open partisan warfare, convinced it would only further inflame Trump and his supporters,” Politico says.