Judging by more than 16,400 comments recently posted on a federal government website, you\u2019d think there was a groundswell of older Americans demanding that federal officials hike payments to their Medicare Advantage health insurance plans.<\/p>\n
Yet about 82% of the comments are identical to a letter that appeared on the website of a secretive advocacy group called Medicare Advantage Majority, a data analysis by KFF Health News has found.<\/p>\n
The \u201cdark money<\/a>\u201d group does not reveal its funders or much else \u2014 other than to say it is \u201cdedicated to protecting and strengthening Medicare Advantage\u201d and is \u201cpowered by hundreds of thousands of local advocates nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur campaign provides information and offers tools for concerned Americans to use to reach decision makers,\u201d spokesperson Darren Grubb said in an email. The group has spent more than $3.1 million on hundreds of Facebook ads since September 2024, according to Facebook\u2019s Ad Library<\/a>, a database of the social media company\u2019s online ads.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no doubt health insurers are unhappy with a January proposal<\/a> from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, to keep Medicare Advantage reimbursement rates essentially flat in 2027 \u2014 far less than they expected from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Medicare Advantage plans differ from traditional Medicare because private insurance companies administer them. The insurance plans enroll about 35 million<\/a> members, more than half the people eligible for Medicare. The plans offer things like vision and drug coverage, but Medicare Advantage insurers restrict the hospitals and doctors that patients can use and require prior approval for various procedures.<\/p>\n CMS is set to announce a final decision by early next month on the rate proposal. The agency solicited public comments<\/a> on the proposal from Jan. 26 through Feb. 25 to give interested parties and the public a chance to air their views.<\/p>\n Medicare Advantage Majority, which says the rate proposal amounts to a \u201ccut\u201d in services and warns of dire consequences for seniors should it go through, accounted for at least 13,522 of the 16,422 comments published as of March 12.<\/p>\n The proposed rate plan \u201cputs my access to care at risk,\u201d the group\u2019s template letter to policymakers reads in part. \u201cIf the investment made by Washington in the Medicare Advantage program is nearly flat year-over-year, I could lose benefits I rely on every day, including affordable prescriptions, capped out of pocket costs, and access to trusted doctors and specialists.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMedicare Advantage is not optional for me. The cost protections alone have saved me thousands of dollars and made my health care manageable. Without this program, I would face higher costs, fewer providers, and fewer benefits at a time when I can least afford it,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n Critics warn that these sorts of campaigns may create a misleading impression of grassroots support, especially when it\u2019s not clear who is financing them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt puts a different spin on a massive groundswell of comments to know all are being driven by one specific organization,\u201d said Michael Beckel, director of money in politics reform for Issue One, a group that seeks to limit the influence of money on government policy and legislation.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no way for the public to know what wealthy donors or special interests are funding dark money groups like this,\u201d he said. \u201cThat means there\u2019s no scrutiny of who\u2019s really calling the shots.\u201d<\/p>\n Some health care policy experts, who have long argued that the government overpays Medicare Advantage plans by tens of billions of dollars every year, believe industry groups or their surrogates routinely overstate possible negative impacts of rate decisions they don\u2019t like.<\/p>\n \u201cThe plans always say that the sky is falling,\u201d said Matthew Fiedler, a health care policy expert with the Brookings Institution. \u201cThe industry has a lot of money at stake here. They try to exert pressure on policymakers any way they can.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, even critics concede that some of the millions of people enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans could face service cuts if insurance companies are not satisfied with government payments.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is legitimate for people to be worried,\u201d said Julie Carter, counsel for federal policy at the Medicare Rights Center, a group that advocates for older adults and people with disabilities.<\/p>\n Her group argues that Medicare Advantage plans have never attained expected cost savings and instead have been overpaid for years at least partly due to \u201cactions to maximize profits.\u201d She said the health plans \u201care supposed to be saving money, not taking extra.\u201d<\/p>\n People struggling to pay health care bills may have little use for the policy debate in Washington.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for being able to have this program, I really wouldn\u2019t be able to afford any kind of medical services, to be honest,\u201d said EsterAlicia Rose, 75, who works at the front desk of a hotel in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. She said she signed the Medicare Advantage Majority form letter to reach policymakers.<\/p>\n Kathy Lovely-Marshall, 66, a retired nurse who lives in Brookville, Ohio, did too. She said she receives \u201ca lot of perks\u201d from her plan, such as dental care, eyeglasses, and prescriptions.<\/p>\n \u201cAll those things are a big plus as far as I am concerned,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m very happy with the plan I have.\u201d<\/p>\n But Corenia Branham, 90, a widow and cancer survivor who lives in Alum Creek, West Virginia, said she wants nothing to do with Medicare Advantage plans run by private health insurance companies. She said she didn\u2019t turn in any of the four form letters under her name, which were posted online by CMS on Feb. 23 and signed, \u201cMiss Corenia Branham Branham.\u201d It\u2019s not clear why her last name is signed twice.<\/p>\n Branham said she\u2019s not on Medicare Advantage and doubts she could count on it for needed care.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t recommend it to nobody,\u201d she said. \u201cI sure don\u2019t want anything to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Grubb, the Medicare Advantage Majority spokesperson, disputed that account. He said Branham responded to an ad on Facebook. On Feb. 6, she \u201ccompleted the form with her information and chose to send her comment to CMS as well as to her representatives in Congress and the White House,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Other Medicare Advantage advocacy groups have stepped up ad campaigns as the rate decision looms.<\/p>\n The Better Medicare Alliance, whose \u201callies\u201d include a range of health insurers, health care providers, and consumers, is urging seniors to \u201cTell Washington to Stand Up for Medicare Advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve mobilized beneficiaries to write letters and make phone calls, and we\u2019ve run digital ads on streaming platforms,\u201d spokesperson Susan Reilly said.<\/p>\n Reilly said that this year roughly 3 million seniors \u201cwere forced to find new coverage\u201d because plans either shuttered operations or left some areas.<\/p>\n She also said Medicare Advantage plans have \u201cscaled back\u201d benefits such as offering transportation to medical appointments, nutrition support, and dental and vision coverage, while over the past two years beneficiaries have faced an average $900 increase in out-of-pocket maximums.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do view this as especially serious,\u201d Reilly said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t a single bad year; it\u2019s the cumulative effect of years of underfunding and policy disruption from the previous administration that has left the program increasingly vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n As of March 12, CMS said it had received 46,884 comments but had posted only 16,422 online.<\/p>\n CMS spokesperson Catherine Howden said the agency would make more comments public \u201cas soon as practicable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe agency focuses on reviewing the substance of timely submissions and does not speculate on volume, sentiment, or potential impact of comments while the comment period is open\/under review,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. 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