Medicare Advantage Trims Could Affect Millions of Seniors

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Silence of 9:49AM December 28, 2009

Why not make these plans income and asset tested, so only low to moderate income seniors who cannot afford the Medicare Supplement premiums (more than $400. a month for a comparably good Blue Shield one for an individual 80 year old)?

Then Medicare Advantage plans would be a kind of hybred between traditional Medicare Supplement Plans and the wholly welfare, Medicaid-"cadillac" version of a Medicare Supplement.

Harvey Pearson of CA 8:42PM December 16, 2009

Why should the Medicare Advantage people get more benefits and the Medicare fund pay MORE for them!!! Lets level the playing field and pay the same for everyone!! Let the Medicare Advantage people pay for the extra services not us on regular Medicare!!

Phil Conrad of PA 11:14AM December 05, 2009

After reading the comments here, the Path Forward seems more obvious. Today, for many but not all, Medicare Advantage is NOT a great deal. Going forward, Advantage programs will cost more, e.g., will be even less of a deal.

The Medicare Advantage program was designed to pay the same Medicare premium to a private insurer, which would find efficiencies and improved procedures to save money and make a profit. That did not happen. Now, as Health Care Reform pushes Medicare Advantage into the original funding format, with Medicare paying THE SAME OR LESS than regular Medicare premiums, Medicare Advantage policies will be charging more to the end user.

This is a good thing. Due to rising costs, Medicare funding is clearly insufficient for it's basic goals; there is absolutely no reason Medicare should be paying more, under an Advantage program, for basic individual coverage. If the Advantage program is offering more to the end user, there needs to be a premium for that higher coverage.

Interestingly, this year my Aetna Medicare Advantage program REDUCED its cost to me, from about $100/month to about $75/month. I've read that the insurance companies are doing this to try and avoid the coming changes. But I've already decided the program is a losing proposition for me. With a $250 deductible and $900 in Advantage premiums, I get almost nothing back and still have to pay the co-pays. Drug coverage is equally bad, with a $300 deductible to meet before collecting a dime and then co-pays on every prescription.

I paid Medicare taxes during my working career and expect it to cover my remaining years. But I cannot expect Medicare to pay more than it was designed to pay so an insurance company can benefit. The proposed Health Care Reform will be the first step in correcting this Medicare abuse from prior Republican administrations.

RCharles

RCharles of PA 6:51AM December 02, 2009