‘Dark Money’ Group Angles for Higher Medicare Advantage Payments

Summary: Imagine thousands of older Americans suddenly writing to the government, demanding more money for their health insurance companies. That’s what it looked like on a federal website where people can comment on Medicare Advantage plans. But it turns out, it wasn't exactly a natural movement.

A secret "dark money" group called Medicare Advantage Majority copied and pasted about 82% of those 16,400 comments. The government recently suggested keeping payments to these private insurance companies flat for 2027, which was much less than insurers expected from the Trump administration. The insurance companies say this flat rate is a "cut" that will hurt the 35 million seniors who use these plans. To fight back, this secret group has spent over $3.1 million on Facebook ads since September to make it look like regular people are outraged. The government will make its final decision early next month.

For more details, see kffhealthnews at kffhealthnews.org/news/article/the-week-in-brief-medicare-advantage-payments-dark-money/ (opens in new tab)