Articles On: Health Insurance
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Medicare Advantage Premiums to Decrease, Benefits to Increase
On September 24, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the average premium for a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan in 2021 would drop by an average of 34% compared to the 2017 premium. CMS also revealed that record number of MA plans would be offering in-home benefits.
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Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefits in the COVID-19 Era
Medicare enrollment is growing quickly. By 2030, one in five US citizens will be 65 years old or older. Seniors currently receive benefits through Medicare in two ways. One referred to as “traditional Medicare”, the other, Medicare Advantage (MA), also known as “Medicare Part C.” Parts A and B cover hospitalizations and outpatient care and doctor visits, respectively; Part D covers prescription drugs.
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Optimizing the Value of Medicare’s Supplemental Benefits
Expanded MA supplemental benefits are largely tied to CMS’s updated guidance allowing plans to cover anything that has “a reasonable expectation” of improving or maintaining the well-being of beneficiaries with chronic conditions.
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Medicare Advantage’s Supplemental Benefits
As the healthcare climate pivots from fee-for-service to value-based payment models, Medicare Advantage benefits are expanding to include a broader scope of offerings. Insurers are slowly realizing that the value of offering these benefits is far greater than paying for treatment costs, including time spent in high-cost, acute care facilities, once a patient’s illness becomes more severe.
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Medicare Advantage and Hospice Care
In January 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an expansion of its “value-based insurance design” (VBID) model for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. With the industry moving away from fee-for-service models and towards fee-for-value arrangements, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has advocated for the addition of carved-in hospice benefits to Medicare Advantage plans, including a test of this offering, starting in 2021.
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