$66B in taxpayer money is getting sucked into this Medicare Advantage black hole

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission — the statutory independent body that advises Congress on the entire Medicare program — has slammed the Medicare Advantage program for a 'fundamental lack of transparency' in how large portions of taxpayer money are being spent, particularly when it comes to the generous annual rebates being paid every year to the big insurance companies that operate the program. In all, the Medicare trustees estimate that the privatized Medicare Advantage program will cost U.S. taxpayers $547 billion this year, more than three times as much as it did a decade ago.