“Don’t Look Up? Medicare Advantage’s Trajectory And The Future Of Medicare”

“Don’t Look Up? Medicare Advantage’s Trajectory And The Future Of Medicare,” by J. Michael McWilliams, Health Affairs

Quote:

“After a 9 percent increase from 2021 to 2022, enrollment in the Medicare Advantage (MA) program is expected to surpass 50 percent of the eligible Medicare population within the next year. At its current rate of growth, MA is on track to reach 69 percent of the Medicare population by the end of 2030. The subsidies fueling MA’s rapid expansion are well-documented. … MA’s rapid growth has stirred controversy, focused primarily on its exploitation of a manipulable risk-adjustment system. This has allowed MA to appropriate growing, unintended subsidies at a time when the Medicare Part A trust fund is projected to be depleted in four years. Debate has pitted concerns about fiscal sustainability and corporate influence against the value and popularity of benefits, which are politically challenging to contract once expanded.”

 

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

Sour grapes?