Aaron Plotke
@aple66.bsky.social
Associate Director of Healthcare Innovation at @FamiliesUSA | Fmr Analyst with HHS OIG 🏛| Advocating for high quality & affordable health care for all | Views my own | @UConn alum
If the Administration truly wants to take on waste & inefficiency in health care & “Make America Healthy Again”, they need to side with the American people and strengthen/expand the Medicare drug negotiation program, not weaken it!
BREAKING: US President Donald Trump directed his health department to work with Congress on revamping a law that allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, seeking to introduce a change the pharmaceutical industry has lobbied for reut.rs/4lyH3SX
Trump signs healthcare executive order that includes a win for pharma companies
U.S. President Donald Trump directed his health department on Tuesday to work with Congress on revamping a law that allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, seeking to introduce a change the pharmaceutical industry has lobbied for.
reut.rs
April 16, 2025 at 1:34 AM
If the Administration truly wants to take on waste & inefficiency in health care & “Make America Healthy Again”, they need to side with the American people and strengthen/expand the Medicare drug negotiation program, not weaken it!
Reposted by Aaron Plotke
Medicare & Medicaid provide affordable access to care for over 150 million Americans. An unelected billionaire and his team of interns rooting around inside the program’s data systems without oversight is not an appropriate or way to identify opportunities for change. www.wsj.com/politics/elo...
Exclusive | DOGE Aides Search Medicare Agency Payment Systems for Fraud
Elon Musk’s allies have been on site at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services offices this week.
www.wsj.com
February 5, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Medicare & Medicaid provide affordable access to care for over 150 million Americans. An unelected billionaire and his team of interns rooting around inside the program’s data systems without oversight is not an appropriate or way to identify opportunities for change. www.wsj.com/politics/elo...
While the oversight work of IGs will surely continue (under acting IGs), this widespread firing sends the wrong signal to the thousands of public servants who work tirelessly to root out fraud, waste, & abuse in federal programs & (at worst) seeks to undermine their independence.
Trump fires at least 12 independent inspectors general in late-night purge
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Trump fires at least 12 independent inspectors general in late-night purge
The dismissals could clear the way for the president to install loyalists in the crucial role of identifying fraud, waste and abuse in the government.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 25, 2025 at 4:28 PM
While the oversight work of IGs will surely continue (under acting IGs), this widespread firing sends the wrong signal to the thousands of public servants who work tirelessly to root out fraud, waste, & abuse in federal programs & (at worst) seeks to undermine their independence.
Even hospital CEOs agree patients should pay the same price for the same service! #sameservicesameprice @ahahospitals 👀
Well this was unexpected: John Couris, the CEO of major Florida hospital system, told me "site neutrality makes some sense." Medicare currently pays hospitals *a lot* more than independent clinics for the same, routine outpatient care, to which he said: www.statnews.com/2025/01/17/j...
January 17, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Even hospital CEOs agree patients should pay the same price for the same service! #sameservicesameprice @ahahospitals 👀
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The Justice Department is interviewing former UnitedHealth Group physicians about their experiences working at practices owned by the health care giant.
DOJ seeks interviews with former UnitedHealth Group doctors
UnitedHealth is the country’s largest health insurer and has 90,000 doctors under its control, more than any other company.
buff.ly
January 13, 2025 at 2:56 AM
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NEW: @CMSGov just posted their CY2026 adv rate notice for MA & Part D plans. This is a critical opportunity for advocates and the public to weigh in to urge @CMSGov to hold MA insurers accountable to actually delivering the affordable & high quality #healthcare & coverage we deserve.
January 10, 2025 at 11:53 PM
NEW: @CMSGov just posted their CY2026 adv rate notice for MA & Part D plans. This is a critical opportunity for advocates and the public to weigh in to urge @CMSGov to hold MA insurers accountable to actually delivering the affordable & high quality #healthcare & coverage we deserve.
NEW advisory from @Surgeon_General on the causal* link between alcohol & cancer risk.
We should all call on Congress to require updated warning labels on alcoholic beverages in the 119th Congress.
It could save thousands of lives! Less than 1/2 of Americans know of the risks.
We should all call on Congress to require updated warning labels on alcoholic beverages in the 119th Congress.
It could save thousands of lives! Less than 1/2 of Americans know of the risks.
Alcohol products should carry cancer warning labels, the US Surgeon General said, citing an increased risk of developing tumors
US Surgeon General Calls for Cancer Warnings on Alcohol Labels
Alcohol products like beer and wine should carry warnings of their links to cancer, the US Surgeon General said, citing an increased risk of developing tumors in the breast and other parts of the body...
www.bloomberg.com
January 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
NEW advisory from @Surgeon_General on the causal* link between alcohol & cancer risk.
We should all call on Congress to require updated warning labels on alcoholic beverages in the 119th Congress.
It could save thousands of lives! Less than 1/2 of Americans know of the risks.
We should all call on Congress to require updated warning labels on alcoholic beverages in the 119th Congress.
It could save thousands of lives! Less than 1/2 of Americans know of the risks.
“Medicare Advantage insurers diagnosed patients with conditions that triggered extra payments of $50 billion from 2019 to 2021, even though no doctor ever treated the diseases.”
Critical reporting by @wsj.com on the coding abuses in MA. We need & deserve better!
Critical reporting by @wsj.com on the coding abuses in MA. We need & deserve better!
https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/unitedhealth-medicare-payments-doctors-c2a343db?st=Abtw5D
t.co
January 2, 2025 at 5:38 PM
“Medicare Advantage insurers diagnosed patients with conditions that triggered extra payments of $50 billion from 2019 to 2021, even though no doctor ever treated the diseases.”
Critical reporting by @wsj.com on the coding abuses in MA. We need & deserve better!
Critical reporting by @wsj.com on the coding abuses in MA. We need & deserve better!
Happy New Year! 🎊🎆🎈
Also… your friendly health policy reminder that starting TODAY, an estimated 19 million Medicare beneficiaries will see their out-of-pocket Medicare Part D spending capped at $2,000 for the year because of the IRA 💪
Also… your friendly health policy reminder that starting TODAY, an estimated 19 million Medicare beneficiaries will see their out-of-pocket Medicare Part D spending capped at $2,000 for the year because of the IRA 💪
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5061259-medicare-drug-price-cap-2025/?tbref=hp
t.co
January 1, 2025 at 5:46 AM
Happy New Year! 🎊🎆🎈
Also… your friendly health policy reminder that starting TODAY, an estimated 19 million Medicare beneficiaries will see their out-of-pocket Medicare Part D spending capped at $2,000 for the year because of the IRA 💪
Also… your friendly health policy reminder that starting TODAY, an estimated 19 million Medicare beneficiaries will see their out-of-pocket Medicare Part D spending capped at $2,000 for the year because of the IRA 💪
The business model of US health care is fundamentally broken. “Nonprofit” hospitals consolidate into large systems to price gouge patients, insurers bill fake diagnoses to game Medicare for billions of 💵’s, & PE buys up providers just to strip them down & load them w debt to sell them off.
The Gilded Age of Medicine Is Here
Health insurers and hospitals increasingly treat patients less as humans in need of care than consumers who generate profit.
www.newyorker.com
December 29, 2024 at 3:20 PM
The business model of US health care is fundamentally broken. “Nonprofit” hospitals consolidate into large systems to price gouge patients, insurers bill fake diagnoses to game Medicare for billions of 💵’s, & PE buys up providers just to strip them down & load them w debt to sell them off.
Reposted by Aaron Plotke
ICYMI: Families USA Action is urging Congress to take action during the lame duck session to lower health care costs. Among the bipartisan solutions is a Same Service, Same Price policy that will protect people from price gouging by big hospital corporations. familiesusa.org/press-releas...
Families USA Action Launches Six-Figure Ad Campaign to Urge Congress to Lower Health Care Costs by End of Year - Families Usa
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As Congress returns for its lame duck session, Families USA Action has launched a $100,000 ad campaign to urge Congress to take immediate action to pass reforms that will lower heal...
familiesusa.org
November 15, 2024 at 2:34 PM
ICYMI: Families USA Action is urging Congress to take action during the lame duck session to lower health care costs. Among the bipartisan solutions is a Same Service, Same Price policy that will protect people from price gouging by big hospital corporations. familiesusa.org/press-releas...
Reposted by Aaron Plotke
Families USA is out with a new report outlining how much $$ Americans would save if Congress passed Same Service, Same Price. Big hospital corporations are pushing patients into hospital settings for routine imaging services because they can charge more. Congress can stop it and save patients $$
November 21, 2024 at 5:09 PM
Families USA is out with a new report outlining how much $$ Americans would save if Congress passed Same Service, Same Price. Big hospital corporations are pushing patients into hospital settings for routine imaging services because they can charge more. Congress can stop it and save patients $$