Congresswoman explains Medicare Advantage Scam in five minutes.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

46. I had Aetna Advantage for 20 years. I'm using SCAN now.

I've had both knees, hips and shoulders replaced. The out-of-pocket cost was $0 for each operation and following hospital stay. My annual meds were less than $150 under Aetna and projected to be $0 under SCAN.

Quality of care has been excellent, although that may be because I live in the Palm Springs, CA, area, which features the Eisenhower Medical Center and a variety of top specialists (although than may be partly due to the 100 championship-level golf courses in the area).

My first major operation -- a hip replacement -- was done by a leading orthopedic surgeon (Dr. Douglas Roger in Palm Springs) who completed the procedure in 28 minutes, operating through a four inch incision in the side of my hip. I think it was a procedure he had personally developed, because he was giddy about the results, which is not what I expected from a doctor who had zero bedside manner. That afternoon I walked 100 yards without a walker, cane or pain. Five stars.

Unfortunately, his medical group dropped out of the medical group Aetna uses, and my second procedure was done using the "normal" technique, which led to a longer operation and recovery time. The end results were the same; I would have preferred the former, but I didn't have the money to pay the 20% Medicare doesn't cover.

Overall, I was satisfied with Aetna's MA. I started SCAN on Jan 1, so we'll see what happens. They both use the same medical group (Desert Oasis Healthcare), so I've kept my primary care doctor.

One thing I've found interesting is that pharmacists don't seem to understand that MA isn't Medicare, but a private medical insurance policy.

Not having a reasonable dental benefit is a bummer, but when I wanted implants I just drove to Tijuana and got the procedure done for half of the U.S. rate.