Medicare Advantage (MA) premiums will be 1% lower and patient enrollment is projected to increase by 5% in 2011, CMS announced Tuesday.
"Despite the claims of some, Medicare Advantage remains strong and a robust option for millions of seniors who choose to enroll or stay in a participating plan today and in the future," said CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, MD, in a statement. "The Affordable Care Act gave us new authority to negotiate with health plans in a competitive marketplace. As a result, our beneficiaries will save money and maintain their benefits."
Your Medicare patients will have access to most of the Medicare Advantage plans you currently accept. CMS says 99.7% of plans available today will be available in 2011. The health care reform law does allow patients to disenroll from a MA plan and return to the traditional fee-for-service program between Jan. 1 and March 15 of each year.
Update: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) had this to say about CMS's announcement: "One million seniors will be forced out of their current Medicare Advantage plan next year. More cuts are on the way. Changes to Medicare Advantage are one more violation of the President's promise that if you like the health care coverage you have, you can keep it. Congressional Democrats cut Medicare Advantage in 2008 and overrode a presidential veto to do it. The Administration's own chief actuary predicts that the $200 billion in cuts from health reform will decrease Medicare Advantage's projected enrollment by 50 percent between now and 2017. The Administration may be trying to persuade seniors that everything is fine, but the millions of Medicare beneficiaries who will lose their current coverage or see fewer benefits in the coming years will disagree."