On the recordNovember 30, 2012
Well, the Medicare Advantage gives you slightly enhanced benefits under Medicare, and it was provided by Medicare. And what the private sector says is: we could provide those same services for a lower cost; and if you let us get in at 95 percent of what you're paying, everybody wins, because we're saving money. That's a phantom saving, but that was the original deal. By the time--in the prescriptive drug benefit, we're paying about 115 percent more than the average. And all we're doing is saying, well, let's just pay the average. The insurance companies do have an advantage in their costs because there are ways of attracting a healthier clientele, so their costs would be lower, not because of efficiency, but because they skewed a better, healthier clientele and that's how they save money. But what we did was reduced their profit margin to the point where they have to be at least as efficient as Medicare, not getting a bonus, which didn't help anybody.
