Kaine tells of concerns with Medicare Advantage Kaine meets with kids, then relates concerns with federal program

After wrapping up a six-day swing through the state at a roundtable with kids at a Richmond YMCA day camp, Sen. Tim Kaine said Friday that his road trip brought unexpected bad news: yet another federally funded health insurance program that's stinting Virginians.

This one is Medicare Advantage, the managed care plans for older Americans.

Kaine said it was distressing to learn of problems with Medicare Advantage in the wake of cuts to Medicaid, the coverage that mainly covers children in low-income families and people with disabilities, along with the end of the enhanced tax credits that make Obamacare coverage affordable for hundreds of thousands of Virginians.

"I was hearing about it from the providers that of all the payers, Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, the VA (Veterans Administration) TRICARE (coverage for the military and military dependents), the worst payer is Medicare Advantage," he said.

They said Medicare Advantage "stretches out the payment time, is the hardest to deal with, and that surprises me," Kaine said.

"For some of the individuals, they also are submitting claims and getting it turned down and having to submit them again or taking a long time to get a preauthorization, to see a specialist ... you've got to get a preauthorization," he said.

A member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Kaine plans to ask colleagues to look at reforming Medicare Advantage.

Virginians' experiences - in this case, the arrests by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Charlottesville - have already sparked legislation. He and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., are sponsoring a bill that would bar federal agents from hiding their faces and require them to display names and their agency when enforcing immigration law.

"You know, having tried a lot of cases in courthouses, I know who are in courthouses, people who are pretty emotional. They're often there for tough, challenging circumstances," he said, speaking after the session with the campers at the Northside Family YMCA.

"When I read about the Charlottesville situation, I felt people coming in, not identified as law enforcement with masks, trying to grab people, not only is it going to wreak havoc on the people who are there, who are already in emotional situations, but ... not knowing who they were, you could see something bad happen," he said.

YMCA campers

At the roundtable with the YMCA campers - "I think they were the youngest I've met with yet," - Kaine earned a "wow" from the 8- to 10-year-olds when he said he's the first Richmonder to serve in the U.S. Senate since the 1830s.

He fielded questions about his office, his first job - as a 13-year-old camp counselor with the Y in Johnson County, Kansas, with a $25 paycheck at the end of the summer - his birthday and famous people he's met.

He also got the advice that Congress needs to do something to get kids more snacks.

Kaine told the campers he was most proud of a bill he and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, joined forces on to raise the minimum age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products from 18 to 21.

"The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) said that bill saved 350,000 lives," he said.

The sharpest political question came from 10-year-old Catherine, who told Kaine she wants to be president when she grows up.

The question: "Do you get to make the rules?"

Well, he said, there's convincing 50 other senators, sometimes 59 others, getting a majority in the House of Representatives and then convincing a president to sign the bill into law.

"You have to really work to persuade people," he said.

Dave Ress (804) 649-6948dress@timesdispatch.com