Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) refused to explain what happened during her private meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Instead, the congresswoman decided to address the problem of fraud committed by large insurance firms in Medicare.
In response to the reporter’s question about what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez discussed with Kennedy following a budget hearing at HHS on April 21, the representative pointed out the current healthcare crisis in America.
“We’re getting screwed. People are getting screwed. The DOJ has a criminal case open on United Healthcare for stealing money from Medicare. And we’re in a time where all of our healthcare is getting defunded. People are getting denied their health insurance. People are getting denied surgeries, medicines, prescriptions are super expensive.”
Insurance companies that operate within the Medicare Advantage program, the private alternative to the standard Medicare program, are upcoding medical diagnoses in order to obtain additional funds. At the same time, patients lose their health insurance while the cost of prescription drugs increases dramatically.
“This administration is responsible for it and rewarding them for it. And we have to bring it to a stop,” she stated. “These companies that are running Medicare Advantage are stealing from people, and we need to be honest about it. It’s got to come to an end.”
The comments followed the previous day’s questioning at a congressional budget hearing about a plan to allocate an additional $13 billion in payment cuts to private Medicare Advantage plans amid a federal fraud investigation in the industry.
The congresswoman accused the current administration of sponsoring such practices.
Reactions in the post were controversial. Some critics openly criticized Ocasio-Cortez. For example, one commented: “Tell the truth, all of you Democrats have been stealing taxpayers’ money for years!”
Another commenter was concerned about how the problem is being presented. “She knows there is much fraud going on, but calls the attempts to fix the situation the main problem,” one user wrote and suggested giving Americans money to cover healthcare expenses. “It is all about competing on price.”
Moreover, one person was certain that this was not the first administration that facilitated fraud. “Fraud started way before this administration,” the user claimed, adding that denying unnecessary services that do not increase a patient’s lifespan is unreasonable.
The Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into Medicare billing at UnitedHealth Group, but no charges have been made so far. The company declined to comment.
