Mr. Poehling’s allegations, if true, could help explain why insurers are staying in the Medicare Advantage program even as they pull out of the Affordable Care Act exchanges in some states: Medicare Advantage offers a way to get extra money from the federal government. Mr. Burns also said Mr. Poehling’s complaints and similar ones held UnitedHealth and other Medicare Advantage participants to higher standards than the ones used by the original Medicare program. MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PROGRAM ADDITIONAL PAYMENT TO INSURER FOR SELECTED CONDITIONS Diabetes without complications Breast, prostate and other Diabetes with acute complications Drug/alcohol dependence Major depressive, bipolar and Lung and other severe cancers Metastatic cancer and acute leukemia “You or I or the average person is probably appalled by this,” Mr. Poehling said.
