1/ Today Trump signed an exec order to expand the privately run, gov-paid Medicare alternative.
He did it in The Villages, a huge retirement community in FL.
Why? Because villagers ❤️ Medicare Advantage.
And they (largely) ❤️him.
Here’s what it looked like on the ground:
He did it in The Villages, a huge retirement community in FL.
Why? Because villagers ❤️ Medicare Advantage.
And they (largely) ❤️him.
Here’s what it looked like on the ground:
2/ Some background:
A few wks ago, @akjohnson1922 and @zack_wittman headed to FL to report on and photograph The Villages.
What they found was a lively community of retirees drinking, dancing + grappling w/ a stake in the Medicare debate. (Don’t worry, the alligator is fake)
A few wks ago, @akjohnson1922 and @zack_wittman headed to FL to report on and photograph The Villages.
What they found was a lively community of retirees drinking, dancing + grappling w/ a stake in the Medicare debate. (Don’t worry, the alligator is fake)
@akjohnson1922 @zack_wittman 3/ In The Villages, Trump support is mainstream.
How mainstream?
In 2016, 8 out of 10 Republicans in The Villages’ three counties voted for Trump.
How mainstream?
In 2016, 8 out of 10 Republicans in The Villages’ three counties voted for Trump.
@akjohnson1922 @zack_wittman 4/ In 2013, the community of 115,000 residents decided to create its own health system, paid for by Medicare but managed by health insurance giant @UHC, a leader in a movement intended to give patients more choice, while offering insurers a big share of federal Medicare dollars.
@akjohnson1922 @zack_wittman @UHC 5/ Under Medicare Advantage, the fed gov still foots the bill, but it is a starkly different model than the universal, Medicare-for-all plans championed by Dem. prez candidates.
6/ Advantage plans were initially billed as a way to contain costs, but it’s unclear if that actually happened.
Some studies found the average annual costs were about the same between the two programs, while others have said Medicare Advantage is actually more expensive.
Some studies found the average annual costs were about the same between the two programs, while others have said Medicare Advantage is actually more expensive.
7/ Insurers in the program have been criticized for cherry-picking customers by moving into the healthiest communities that offer the best chance of profit and for overbilling the government for unjustified services.
8/ Which brings us back here, to The Villages.
“My administration is fighting to make it even better,”
Trump told a supportive and receptive crowd today.
“My administration is fighting to make it even better,”
Trump told a supportive and receptive crowd today.
9/ How supportive?
Trump followed that up w/ an inaccurate (and xenophobic) comment: that “open borders” are “draining your health care.”
It’s not outside of the mainstream at The Villages. More than one person told @akjohnson1922 something similar last month.
Trump followed that up w/ an inaccurate (and xenophobic) comment: that “open borders” are “draining your health care.”
It’s not outside of the mainstream at The Villages. More than one person told @akjohnson1922 something similar last month.
@akjohnson1922 10/ Ultimately, The Villages illustrates the depth of the partisan & philosophical divide in the nation’s healthcare debate.
Dems champion universal health care and “Medicare-for-all” — while Republicans, like these, are questioning if healthcare is even a human right.
Dems champion universal health care and “Medicare-for-all” — while Republicans, like these, are questioning if healthcare is even a human right.
@akjohnson1922 11/ Read the full dispatch from The Villages here, by @akjohnson1922 and w/ photographs by @zack_wittman:
propublica.org/article/the-vi…
propublica.org/article/the-vi…
@akjohnson1922 @zack_wittman 12/ @akjohnson1922 is a narrative health care reporter as part of our new DC office.
Sign up to get her + other investigations as soon as they’re published: go.propublica.org/bigstory-social
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