Trump has proposed nearly freezing 2027 payments to insurers providing Medicare Advantage plans. The stock prices of those insurers have cratered. We’ll have to see where this goes.
Kind of odd since Republicans want to push for more “Advantage” plans. But they will likely be pulled and then people will face few if any Advantage plans as well as significantly higher “Medigap” premiums AND a then a reevaluation of "Medigap"plans, which it’s my understanding that if Medicare B pays it, Medicap is required to pay it. Could it be the rise of the…drum roll please…the death panels?
And FWIW, I’m fine with end of life counseling, and in my family, my father and sister both declined to have Medicare pay for their chemo treatments and opted to call it a life. I will likely do the same.
Do you have evidence of repubs seriously pushing advantage plans? I have speculated that Medicare will eventually establish Advantage Plans (APs) as the standard Medicare plan with Medigap as an option, but I am neither a Repub or anywhere to a position that might make that happen.
Medicare determines if the service is covered or not. If one has standard Medicare, with no other coverage, and the service is covered, Medicare pays 80% and the patient pays 20% plus a deductible. If the patient has a Medigap plan, that plan will pay some or all of that 20% depending the patient’s plan (and the patient selects his/her plan annually and pays for it). Without Medigap, the patient is responsible for the 20% and deductible. No insurer other than Medicare determines the validity of the service.
Advantage Plans put the insurer in charge of determining if the service is covered by the their plan, usually requiring tests and evaluations that Medicare does not require. With Medicare, referrals by GPs or others to a specialist are not required. APs can charge copays and deductibles that Medicare does not. Some APs offer other medical services that some patients desire. I have always advise people considering APs to look at the details of the AP and the services they may need. Some do, some don’t.
If you think that means we are moving to death panels, you have taken your what-ifs to a new pinnacle.
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I don’t have access to my computer right now, but I’ll try to find some things. It’s my understanding that Republicans want more “advantage like” plans for Medicare. Perhaps not Medicare advantage per se, but operated more like Medicare advantage. I’ll try to find it when I get a chance.
This is a screenshot of an AI result. I don’t typically trust AI, but it is reporting some of the things I’ve read until I can find a different source. And I’m sure that some of it is biased. But this is why I had said Republicans want more Medicare advantage.
I had to look a bit, but it LOOKS like Medicare Advantage started as Medicare+ Choice as part of the balanced budget act of 1997 (introduced by John Kaisch, R Ohio).
https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/house-bill/2015
It looks like Medicare Advatage came about in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (Introduced by Dennis Hastert, R Il)
https://www.congress.gov/bill/108th-congress/house-bill/1
So I guess Medicare Advantage is a Republican idea.
It was a good idea when started (as Medicare Part C), and a way to help control costs and give retirees a choice of plans. Now it is hit and miss, and requires everyone to inspect and compare the plans available to them.
I don’t see it as a Repub or Dem idea, or even a favored plan by either party. I do see it as a way to control costs that are quickly escalating and I suspect that if Congress ever decides that they need to attempt control costs that will be on the table.
I guess I say Republican because they tend to want prefer the private sector. But I guess it’s confusing because back then was a time when Democrats and Republicans actually worked together and played a game of give and take. Unlike today where it’s my way or the highway on both sides.