The financial pressures on Medicare Advantage Plans have intensified due to an ongoing and extensive debate revolving around the health status of typical plan enrollees. This issue is highly debated and has significant implications. It could significantly affect the funding pressure that issuers encounter in Congress for the foreseeable future, creating a sense of uncertainty and caution for plan providers, trade groups, and beneficiaries.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is at the forefront of this discussion; they are attempting to bridge the ever-widening gap between the government’s revenue and expenditure. A recent in-depth analysis uncovered important findings about the dynamics of the Medicare Advantage program based on two pivotal studies.
The first study examined how the Medicare Advantage program seemingly benefits from “favorable selection,” a phenomenon that tends to attract individuals classified as better risks, i.e., those with healthier profiles.
Comparatively, enrollees who remain with “Original Medicare,” with or without Medicare supplement insurance, appear to exhibit less favorable health characteristics. This discrepancy has staggering financial ramifications, indicating that under the current regulatory framework, both the government and enrollees could be overpaying the plans anywhere from a staggering $810 billion to an astronomical $1.56 trillion over the period spanning from now until 2033.
These new estimates are a significant departure from earlier committee projections, which already pointed to potential overpayments ranging from $230 billion to $412 billion. The previous forecasts were mainly derived from data concerning the standard health risk scores or coding intensity of the individuals enrolled. With the new findings factored in, the financial stakes have escalated dramatically, prompting urgent calls for closer examination and potential corrective measures.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget predicts that an essential strategy to address this pressing issue involves the elimination of all overpayments, taking into account both the health coding intensity of enrollees and the impact of favorable selection. Implementing such measures could result in substantial savings, potentially amounting to an impressive $400 billion to $770 billion over the next ten years, safeguarding the integrity of the Medicare Part A hospitalization plan trust fund.
As the debate rages on, the consequences of these deliberations are profound, as members of Congress, driven by the pressing need to address the federal budget deficit and the financial implications of new federal programs, may seek to make significant adjustments to the funding landscape of Medicare Advantage plans.
Recognizing the broader context within which these deliberations take place is crucial. The U.S. federal government has experienced substantial financial losses, with a staggering $1.4 trillion shortfall in 2024 on a revenue base of $4.6 trillion, paving the way for an anticipated addition of $14 trillion in national debt over the next decade. In such a tenuous economic environment, every aspect of the budget, including healthcare programs like Medicare, faces intense scrutiny and calls for efficient and fiscally responsible management.
Medicare stands as a pillar of healthcare coverage, providing essential benefits to a vast population segment. With around 65 million beneficiaries relying on this program, it plays a vital role in ensuring access to medical services and promoting public health. Approximately 35 million individuals receive their coverage through the Medicare Part A hospitalization plan and the Medicare Part B outpatient and physician services plan, which are administered by a combination of nonprofit and for-profit health plan administrators.
Another significant segment of beneficiaries, approximately 30 million individuals, derives their coverage directly from private plan issuers. These private plans, in turn, receive funding from Medicare, complemented by enrollee premiums. In 2024, the government collected substantial sums, including $353 billion in payroll taxes and $4.6 billion in enrollee premiums for the Medicare Part A program, along with a staggering $468 billion in premium revenue for the Part B program.
Additionally, the government disbursed $403 billion to Medicare Advantage plan issuers, underlining the magnitude of financial transactions involved in the program.
For decades, there has been a heated discussion about whether private companies should be allowed to participate in Medicare. Proponents argue that these private plans play a crucial role in care coordination, reducing unnecessary healthcare utilization and offering valuable supplemental benefits like dental and hearing aid coverage. These enhancements are often seen as pivotal in improving overall health outcomes and enhancing the quality of life for beneficiaries.
However, detractors have raised concerns about the complexity of these private plans. They believe it limits patients’ access to care and can potentially increase healthcare costs. The dynamic interplay of public and private entities in administering Medicare has given rise to varied perspectives on the most effective and sustainable approach to healthcare delivery for beneficiaries.
The roots of the Medicare Advantage program can be traced back to the Medicare+Choice program, which encountered significant challenges around 2000. Plan issuers perceived a prevailing sentiment among critics that prompted the government to cut payments to an unrealistically low level, leading to the program’s struggles and subsequent evolution.
Central to the financial workings of the Medicare Advantage program are risk scores, which the federal government utilizes to compensate plans for covering sicker and older enrollees. In this risk-adjustment program, Medicare Advantage plans assign enrollees risk scores that help calculate the appropriate level of government funding. To this end, some Medicare Advantage plans have actively encouraged enrollees to undergo thorough medical checkups to ensure accurate medical records and comprehensive health risk information.
While plans contend that this emphasis on collecting detailed health risk information is primarily aimed at preventing serious illnesses and delivering better healthcare outcomes, critics voice concerns about the potential for inflated risk scores. This, in turn, can lead to a distorted depiction of a plan’s actual level of health risk and consequent financial implications.
To add to the complexity of this ongoing debate, recent research by the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has shed new light on the Medicare Advantage program’s dynamics. Both studies reveal that these plans attract individuals with lower risk scores than those opting for Medicare supplement insurance policies.
Consequently, this favorable selection advantage contributes to a more significant cost gap between Medicare Advantage plan enrollees and Original Medicare enrollees than would be the case if enrollees with both types of coverage were equally healthy.
In response to these findings, the Better Medicare Alliance, a prominent group advocating for Medicare Advantage plans, has conducted its own research, presenting a counter-narrative. According to their research, individuals who enroll in Medicare Advantage plans generally have lower income levels compared to those who stick with Original Medicare. Additionally, they argue that active care management within these plans is crucial in providing superior healthcare compared to the average Original Medicare enrollee’s experience.