Medicare program managers should do more to help Medicare Advantage plan providers tell shoppers about exercise class benefits, transportation benefits and other supplemental benefits, according to the Better Medicare Alliance.
The group is calling for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to require plans to provide standardized descriptions of their extras, then put those standardized descriptions in the Medicare Plan Finder system, the alliance says.
The alliance included those recommendations in a letter commenting on the draft Medicare Advantage rules CMS has proposed for 2023.
The Background
The Medicare Advantage program gives private insurers a chance to provide plans that serve as an alternative to the traditional Medicare program. About 28 million of the 63 million Medicare enrollees now have Medicare Advantage plan coverage.
The Medicare Plan Finder is an online directory that consumers can use to find and compare Medicare plans.
The Better Medicare Alliance is a group that represents health insurers, providers, insurers and others with an interest in the Medicare Advantage program.
The alliance notes in its comment letter that Medicare Advantage plans have been supplementing traditional Medicare plan benefits with other benefits, such as dental insurance benefits, for years.
