If they can move more than half of Americans off traditional Medicare and onto these corporate plans, it’ll provide the political cover to kill off Medicare altogether — and they’re nearly there now
By Thom Hartmann, The Hartmann Report
In 2003, George W Bush set up the destruction and privatization of Medicare. The end of “real Medicare” is getting closer every day, and Congress and Medicare’s administrators are doing nothing.
Last Friday the Centers for Medicare Services (CMS) announced a 14.5% increase in Medicare Part B premiums, raising the monthly payments by the lowest-income Medicare recipients from $148.50 a month to $170.10 a month next year.

If you’re trying to live on the bottom rung of Social Security (about $365/month), that’s consequential. People with Medigap policies are also seeing their policy price rises announced this month.
Two months ago I wrote about the Medicare Advantage Scam and how it can screw consumers. This price hike, though, raises the larger issue of what’s happening to Medicare itself and whether the entire system may be out of business in a few years, in part because our government is being robbed blind by all these so-called “Advantage” plans.
It all began with George W. Bush, who’d spent most of his life openly and proudly campaigning to privatize Medicare and Social Security.
Recent Posts
The Corporate War On Free Speech, A Zero Hour Conversation With Jeff Cohen
October 8, 2025
Take Action Now Jeff Cohen discusses the way right-wing moguls from Larry Ellison to Mark Zuckerberg are reshaping both traditional and social media,…
Are You Being Lied To? Is Portland “War-Ravaged”?
October 8, 2025
Take Action Now At one point, Trump himself questioned what was going on, asking, “Am I watching things on television that are different from what’s…
Wake Up, America: Democracy Is Disappearing Before Our Eyes
October 7, 2025
Take Action Now America’s democracy is under threat from a velvet-glove authoritarianism. Citizens must act now—beyond the ballot box—to defend…
Palestine Solidarity Protests Continue To Grow Across Europe
October 7, 2025
Take Action Now Record crowds again filled streets across Europe, demanding an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and freedom for the Global Sumud…