To the Editor

Conservatives bemoan potential loss of solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund, while developing programs which raid the fund for profit. The nominee for the fund’s Public Trustee, Demetrios Kouzoukas refuses to relinquish his paid Board Membership of a Medicare Advantage insurance plan. Performing his mission to maximize profit for Clover Health while acting to regulate that company is patent conflict of interest.

Mr. Kouzoukas states that “to my knowledge the (CMS) trustees report has not discussed topics like “overpayments” to Medicare Advantage plans…” It required a Freedom of Information suit to learn that the Justice Department was finding fraudulent overpayments to multiple Medicare Advantage corporations, unbeknown to the public. As reported in the NYTimes, audits by numerous investigators uncovered multibillion dollar fraud by Medicare Advantage. Those dollars would be better spent to improve and expand Medicare services.

The revolving door between the Medical Insurance Industry and CMS helps siphon public health dollars into private wealth. The outsourced “product” that intermediary insurance companies create is superfluous, since Medicare administers the insurance with better efficiency and superior medical-loss ratios. This nomination might be an example of a conveyer belt, rather than a revolving door, that fills coffers of private wealth and political campaigns, rather than serving the integrity of Medicare.