"The program is so entrenched, and the companies have so much political influence over Democrats as well as Republicans through campaign contributions and lobbying, that eliminating the program will be a heavy lift, at least in the near term," Potter added. "That means that proposals to reform MA that address overpayments and abuses like prior authorization are essential and important for reform advocates to support."

Love that institutionalized bribery and corruption are just a fact of life in American politics. The fact that stuff costs more and does less is a feature, not a bug, because of the system functioned well and the government got good deals for people, there's less of that money being funneled to their friends that pay them to maintain the inefficiency.