Medicare Advantage cost control measures will cut the number of plans on the menu in 2014.
Analysts at Avalere Health are reporting that the total number of plans available to program users will fall 5.3 percent, to 2,522.
The number of health maintenance organization (HMO) plans will rise 2.6 percent, to 1,715, but the number of preferred provider organization (PPO) plans will fall 17 percent, to 591.
The number of private fee-for-service plans will fall 33 percent, to 120.
The Medicare Advantage program – an initiative that resembles the public exchange program that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is creating – gives private organizations a chance to offer Medicare enrollees an alternative to traditional Medicare coverage.