Private Medicare Advantage Program Too Costly

Interesting information about regular Medicare and private Medicare programs...is regular Medicare having to somewhat carry the private plans?  BD

The lifeline for Medicare Advantage is the insurance lobby and the billions of dollars it has convinced Congress to pump into industry coffers at the expense of seniors. Insurers have threatened to cut their Medicare Advantage plans if Congress halts the flow of excess payments. However, if Medicare continues to fund large subsidies to private plans, the program will face even more pressure to cut benefits and increase out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries. Traditional Medicare will be eroded while private plans continue to collect billions in subsidies and beneficiaries pay more of the high costs of healthcare.

Private insurers offering Medicare Advantage plans will collect $75 billion this year alone and $1.31 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That's federal funding which could have gone to Medicare but is now going to the insurance industry instead. These private plans are paid $1,000 more a year for each beneficiary than the government pays for seniors enrolled in traditional Medicare. The independent Medicare Payment Advisory Commission estimates that every Medicare beneficiary is paying $24 more per year for their Part B premiums just to subsidize these private plans. So, even though 81 percent of Medicare's beneficiaries have chosen to remain in traditional Medicare, they are now paying extra premiums to cover the 19 percent who've chosen the private plans. These billions of dollars in overpayments have also cut two years from Medicare's solvency.

Advantage ... insurers.

Private Medicare Advantage Program Too Costly -- Courant.com