Growing Enrollment in and Growing Cost of MA – Axios

Growing Enrollment in and Growing Cost of MA – Axios

Similarly, a recent article by Bob Herman published by Axios highlights both the growing enrollment in, and cost of, the MA program. Herman notes that as of February 2020, “[r]oughly 24.4 million seniors and people with disabilities were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan […] a 9.4% jump from the same time in 2019 [… an enrollment growth rate that] is well above the 6.8% growth rate in 2019”.

The article explains “Why it matters: Medicare Advantage, which is run by private health insurers, continues to grow at high rates despite concerns over the program's higher spending and evidence that insurers are making people appear sicker than they are.”
As addressed in a recent Center Alert, the article highlights this higher spending on MA:

The elephant in the room: The Congressional Budget Office raised new concerns about MA spending in its latest economic outlook.

·         Net Medicare spending this year will be $22 billion higher than CBO originally projected, and "higher spending for Medicare Advantage accounts for most of that difference," CBO said.

·         That higher spending was attributed to higher payment rates and the likelihood that more MA enrollees "will be coded as being in poorer health than the agency previously anticipated," the CBO said.

·         Federal watchdogs have warned about the coding practices of MA plans, and the industry has fought off regulators that want to audit their records more aggressively.