Trump Administration Eyes Default Enrollment in For-Profit Medicare Advantage Plans, Threatening Traditional Medicare

The Trump administration is quietly plotting a major shift that could hand the for-profit insurance industry a massive windfall—default enrollment of seniors into Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. This policy would automatically funnel Americans turning 65 into privately run MA plans instead of traditional Medicare, a move critics say amounts to the first step toward full-scale privatization of Medicare.

Chris Klomp, the Trump administration’s Medicare director, recently told STAT that default enrollment in MA plans “is something that we’re thinking through.” Medicare Advantage plans are funded by taxpayers but operated by private insurance giants like UnitedHealthcare and Humana, companies notorious for denying necessary care and overcharging the government.

Currently, seniors who receive Social Security benefits for four months before turning 65 are automatically enrolled in traditional Medicare. They can then choose to opt into MA plans if they wish. The proposed change would flip that script, making MA the default and forcing seniors to actively opt out if they prefer traditional Medicare.

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) slammed the idea as “another bad idea straight from Project 2025,” the far-right blueprint for authoritarian governance that Trump has tried to distance himself from. “Medicare Advantage is private, for-profit insurance that overcharges American taxpayers by billions every year and regularly denies seniors the care they need,” Pocan said. “Making Medicare Advantage the default option hurts patients and taxpayers, but it will make insurance execs a lot of money.”

With Mehmet Oz, a former Senate candidate who openly supports “Medicare Advantage for All,” now leading the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), advocates fear the administration could push this change through rapidly and without public input. Alex Lawson of Social Security Works warned that the move would “remove the guarantee of Medicare” and replace it with insurance companies that profit by denying care to the most vulnerable.

Experts estimate that MA plans are currently overpaid by as much as $1.2 trillion over the next decade. This overpayment inflates premiums for all Medicare recipients, with a recent congressional report attributing a $212 premium hike last year to MA overpayments. Since 2016, these overpayments have added an estimated $82 billion to Part B premiums, burdening those who remain in traditional Medicare.

One proposed plan by Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) would automatically enroll seniors in the MA plan with the lowest premium, locking them in for three years without the ability to switch. Wendell Potter, a former insurance executive turned Medicare for All advocate, warned this would trap seniors in plans with limited doctor networks and higher out-of-pocket costs, while denying coverage for necessary care far more than traditional Medicare.

In addition to default enrollment, the Trump administration has already delivered significant wins to MA insurers by increasing federal payment rates and loosening marketing rules, moves that consumer advocates say rollback protections and bow to industry pressure.

This push toward privatizing Medicare is not just a policy shift—it is a direct attack on the guarantee of healthcare for older Americans. As the Trump administration accelerates efforts to enrich private insurers at the expense of patients and taxpayers, the fight to preserve Medicare’s promise becomes more urgent than ever.