President Barack Obama's budget chief isn't sugarcoating his message to health insurance executives: the Medicare Advantage party is over.
White House Budget Director Peter Orszag says the government will no longer overpay companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run portion of the government health program for seniors.
Orszag has told executives at a conference that the government spends about $1.30 for each dollar's worth of care delivered to patients in private plans. That's more than it pays for traditional Medicare. More than 10 million of the 44 million seniors in Medicare get care through private plans.
Orszag spoke Tuesday at a conference for America's Health Insurance Plans, the leading insurance lobbying group.
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