Benefits group stumps for Medicare Advantage

Carriers expect CMS to release preliminary program payment rates Feb. 21.

CMS cut Medicare Advantage program support 6.7 percent for 2014.

America’s Health Insurance Plans predicted that imposing a similar funding cut in 2015 would lead to an average of $35 to $75 per month in premium increases and benefits reductions per enrollee.

Jonathan Blum, the Medicare program directory, reported at a hearing in February 2013 that the program was paying about 4 percent more for Medicare Advantage enrollees than for traditional enrollees. The gap was down from 14 percent a few years earlier, but members of the Obama administration and some members of Congress have promoted efforts to eliminate the gap altogether.

When budget analysts put out estimates of the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on the federal deficit, they assumed CMS would eliminate the difference between Medicare Advantage program funding and traditional plan funding.

See also:

• Medicare doc pay fix moves forward
• Analyst sees Medicare Advantage growth
• CDC: Medical bills strain many U.S. families