Giant health care insurers game the Medicare system, profiting at the expense of taxpayers and patients alike.
By Helaine Olen
Reporter in Residence
Omidyar Network
As soon as Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint for a second Trump administration, began to receive significant negative publicity earlier this month, the former and perhaps future president quickly denied all knowledge of it. “I know nothing about Project 2025,” he said on Truth Social, adding he believed that (unspecified) ideas in the proposal are “abysmal.”
He’d certainly like us to believe that. But that statement shouldn’t be the end of the matter, and not simply because more than two dozen former Trump administration officials are involved in Project 2025. It’s because many of its planks read like a continuation of his first term. That includes the section on Medicare and other health care initiatives, which is not getting the attention it deserves.
Project 2025 recommends making Medicare Advantage — the private insurance offering in Medicare — the default option for enrollment. Currently, there is no default option, though what’s called “Original Medicare” is presented first. That may sound like a minor change, particularly if you’re not familiar with Medicare’s offerings. But this plan, should it come to fruition, will likely degrade not only Medicare, but health care for all Americans, no matter our age.
Ever since he announced his first presidential run, Trump has promised to “save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts.” That was a lie. Even before he became president, his own staff and supporters were saying it wasn’t true. While he was in office, each of Trump’s budgets called for Social Security and Medicare cuts. Trump himself encouraged enrollment in Medicare Advantage, while his Department of Health and Human Services, the agency responsible for the program, sent out promotional emails during one sign-up period with headlines like “Get more benefits for your money.”
This statement is, again, a lie.
