Here's a look at the current status of Medicare Advantage plans.

Right Side News has an article about future cuts to Medicare Advantage plans. "The bottom line is clear: If the "reforms" in Medicare Advantage made by the PPACA are allowed to go into effect, they will inevitably and  unambiguously restrict senior citizens and the disabled to fewer and worse health care choices, reducing their access to quality health care." PPACA is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

Seniors will want to watch carefully what happens to their Medicare Advantage plans under Obamacare -- especially PFFS plans. So, contrary to Obama, if we like the insurance we have now, we may still not get to keep it.

AP: Seniors worry about Medicare. Those on Medicare Advantage will be hurt.

Washington Post: Seniors are paying 14 percent more in premiums for Medicare Advantage Plans.

Miami Herald on provisions in the health care bills:

Q: I'm over 65. How would the legislation affect seniors?
A: The Medicare prescription-drug benefit would be improved substantially under both bills, though only the House bill would eliminate the sizable coverage gap called the "doughnut hole" by 2019. Both bills would enable most seniors to get half-price brand-name drugs when they hit the gap. The final bill to emerge from conference might favor the more generous House approach.
Under both bills, government payments to Medicare Advantage, the private-plan part of Medicare, would be cut back. If you're one of the 10 million beneficiaries whom those private plans cover, you could lose extra benefits that many of the plans offer, such as free eyeglasses, hearing aids and gym memberships.
Both bills would make all Medicare preventive services, such as screenings for colon, prostate and breast cancer, free to beneficiaries.

I know of no "extra benefits" for free eyeglasses or hearing aids in my Advantage plan. Only eye exams and hearing exams are covered. Gym membership is free. I have seen such overstatements before. The real effect of health care "reform" for the over-65 cohort will be to force them out of Medicare Advantage plans and into supplemental plans, which cost more. Insurance companies will benefit.

UPDATE: Nelson exempts three Florida counties from cuts in Medicare Advantage plans.

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann: They predict a backlash from the elderly against Obamacare. They are going to be told "no" when they visit their doctor.

The first “no” will hit the ten million elderly who now rely on Medicare Advantage to pay for the care Medicare itself does not cover. In a payoff to AARP, Obama gutted this program in his bill, ending over $100 billion in federal premium subsidies. These ten million voters will get the grim news that their premiums are going up and their benefits dropping early in 2010. The goal, of course, is to force them to drop Medicare Advantage and sign up, instead, for Medigap insurance — offered, not coincidentally, by the AARP — which provides less coverage at higher cost.

AP Report: In a recent vote, the Senate rejected an effort to restore $120 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage.
ARKANSAS
Lincoln (D), No; Pryor (D), No.

Thanks to both of you. See you in 2010, Blanche.

The NYT has a good summary of what it calls the Medicare Maze. I've been through this maze and been lost in it: Medicare, Medicare Advantage, supplemental policies, donut hole drug coverage, the whole thing.

I've learned that when you are considering a medical insurance company, you will want to ask, Does your doctor/hospital take this or that insurance company? The answer often is Yes, they do. But don't be fooled by that. Take one more step. Also ask, Is this or that doctor/hospital in my network? If you don't and you stray out of your network, you will pay more. They may "take" your insurance, but you will getting a nice fat bill from them in a few weeks.

I'd also advise you not to take your sales representative's work for it. Check it out yourself. Use the company's web site, since it should be the most up-to-date.

More and more doctors don't take Medicare now, presumably because of the low Medicare payments. They just don't want you.

Medicare Advantage plans are under attack in Congress and seniors are going to be shocked when they learn about the proposed cuts.

My own experience with an Advantage plan has been good. In fact I have been shocked at how little the plan pays. Doctors and hospitals are definitely not being overpaid.

Here is some advice about Medicare and Medicare Advantage for next year.

Dick Morris offers a theory explaining why Democrats want to chop Medicare Advantage plans.

The health-care debate is focusing on Medicare Advantage plans, which some 10 or 11 million seniors have. They stand to lose if the Democrats get their way.

This AP report indicates that the only real advantage that Obamacare will offer seniors is an improvement in prescription drug costs, and that advantage will phase in over time.

If you are on Medicare Advantage, you are going to see its benefits cut if Obamacare goes through. Count on it. So says Charles Krauthammer.

Thomas Sinex: Seniors need to wake up on health care. True, polls show a dramatic drop among seniors because of Obama's plan to cut Medicare and his opposition to Medicare Advantage plans. But you would expect even less support.

Unbelievable!

Obama has proposed to eliminate Medicare Advantage insurance plans. So everybody can keep their insurance, right?