Private corporations are raiding our Medicare Trust Fund! Even if you have many years to go before turning 65, this is highly relevant to you. Medicare may no longer exist if we don't take steps to protect it from a new threat: Direct Contracting Entities.
Direct Contracting Entities (DCEs) divert money intended for health care for seniors to go instead to line middle-men pockets, and they can be forced on seniors without their knowledge or consent. After a senior is on one, prices for a supplemental plan for traditional Medicare may shoot up and not be affordable, so they may not be able to get the care they need.
To learn more, see this 15 min video with Dr. Ana Malinow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L27IqMLr934
and read this one-pager produced by Physicians for a National Health Program: //pnhp.org/system/assets/uploads/2021/11/DCE_OnePagerFinal.pdf
Here is a 2 minute, 45 second video, "How the Grinch Stole Medicare", by some Kentuckians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8NuAUHXHOY
And what should you do about it? Please consider signing petitions to oppose them, writing to Rep. Welch, writing Letters to the Editor, but most importantly - learn enough about it to be able to talk about it with your friends and neighbors.
In addition, it would be awesome if you would attend this interactive videoconference to help make a plan to oppose them, especially if you are good with social media and creative.
OPS Office Hours: Direct Contracting Entities and the Privatization of Medicare: Call to action.
Facilitators: Betty Keller MD, Steve Kemble MD, Susan Rogers MD.
Register in advance for this Tuesday evening, Dec. 14 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkdeqvrzwtHtMGXGEMZ__1EbjLA2VoUz0Z
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Please share this invitation with other activists!
We are not planning a presentation for Tuesday evening. Instead, we will be focused on ACTION.
• What actions are happening now? If you haven't participated in them yet, get some guidance on how to act on them, or how to guide others to act on them.
• What materials are already available for teaching about what DCEs are, and how they could destroy our highly successful Medicare program? How can we distribute them more widely?
• What gaps are there in educational materials? Who will make them, and how will we distribute them?
• How can we work most effectively with allies?
Dr. Steve Kemble and Dr. Susan Rogers will be happy to answer questions to try to clear up confusion, so you can be more comfortable writing about and talking about DCEs. And if there are enough people needing an organized review, Steve can also go into a breakout room and give a presentation, but we are hoping instead to have people go into breakout rooms to work on materials, actions, or events.
Please share widely!
Hope to see you tomorrow!
Betty Keller
President, Vermont Physicians for a National Health Program
Co-Chair, OPS Education and Advocacy Work Group
Vermont@pnhp.org
Nov 12, 2024, 7 to 8:15 PM
NAMI Vermont's Free Mental Illness & Recovery WorkshopNov 16, 2024, 10 AM to 5:30 PM
Aurora Chamber Singers Fall ConcertNov 16, 2024, 7:30 to 9:30 PM