“Medicare Advantage Plans Get A Big Pay Hike, Offer More Services And Supports For Older Adults”

“Medicare Advantage Plans Get A Big Pay Hike, Offer More Services And Supports For Older Adults,” by Howard Gleckman, Forbes

 

Quote:
“Medicare Advantage managed care plans, which in 2021 covered 26 million enrollees, will get an average 8.5 percent increase in total Medicare payments next year. At the same time, MA plans are rapidly embracing a wide range of social services and supports for older adults living at home. Sometimes called long-term care lite, these benefits range from meal and food deliveries to transportation, home modifications, and adult day health care. A new report by the Long-Term Care Quality Alliance (LTQA) and the consulting firm ATI Advisory finds an explosion of plan interest in offering these non-medical benefits. … The supportive services the plans offer today should not be confused with full-blown long-term care. A monthly benefit valued at $40 or $50 falls far short of a $200-a-day long-term care insurance benefit that may pay for, say, seven hours of a home care aide. And the MA benefits are available only to people still living at home. They do not cover nursing home care.”

 

LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:

These trivial benefits offered to attract consumers are sizzle, not steak. This author pines for a compulsory universal payroll-funded program backed by government’s monopoly of legal force. Sounds like he’s willing to settle for paltry benefits squeezed by private insurers from traditional Medicare resources.