NorthWest Benefits Solutions
  • Home
  • Individual & Families
    • Health Insurance Overview
    • Individual Health Insurance
    • The Federal Health Marketplace
    • Alternative Health Plans
    • Supplemental insurance
    • Critical Illness Insurance
    • Indemnity Plans
    • Dental Insurance
    • Short Term
    • Telemedicine
    • Travel Insurance
  • Senior Insurance
  • Medicare
  • Life Insurance
    • Life Insurance
    • Disability Insurance
    • Final Expense Insurance
  • Small Business
    • Small Busines
    • Group Benefits
  • Resources
    • Our Agency
    • Free Consultation
    • Insurance Carriers
    • Blog
    • Local Links
    • Privacy Policy
  • Client Testimonials

NorthWest Benefits Solutions Blog

Medicare Savings can be Found in Overpayments to Plans

3/18/2013

0 Comments

 
The General Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) overpaid Medicare Advantage (MA) plans between $3.2 and $5.1 billion from 2010 to 2012. GAO released the estimates last week in its report, Medicare Advantage: Substantial Excess Payments Underscore Need for CMS to Improve Accuracy of Risk Score Adjustments. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) reduces excessive payments to MA plans; however, according to the GAO report, CMS continues to adjust payments to MA plans based on plan reports of the relative health and risk associated with each beneficiary. MA plans continuously reported higher beneficiary risk than actually supported by medical records, resulting in overpayments.
​
As policymakers continue to look for ways to achieve federal savings in the Medicare program, some have proposed policies to turn Medicare into a premium support model, or voucher program, raise Medicare’s age of eligibility or impose further means testing on middle class beneficiaries. All of these options increase health care costs for older adults and people with disabilities, many of whom are in no position to pay more. According to the GAO, if CMS adjusted MA risk scores by 6.4 percent, thus reducing overpayments to MA plans, the result would be billions of dollars in savings to the Medicare program. Policymakers should look at policies like this as well as other worthwhile options, like obtaining lower prices for pharmaceutical drugs and advancing the delivery system reforms in the ACA, to strengthen the Medicare program.
​

Read the GAO report.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Contact us

    (888) 780-7762
    Portland, OR 97219
    Click Here to Email Us

    Categories

    All
    Cover Oregon
    Disability
    Disability Insurance
    Federal Market Exchange
    Final Expense Insurance
    General Health
    General Health & Life Insurance
    Group Health Care
    Group Health Insurance
    Health
    Health Care Reform
    Individual Health Insurance
    Life Insurance
    Medicare
    Oregon Senior Health & Life Insurance
    Self Funding
    Senior Health Insurance
    Senior Health & Life Insurance
    Senior Life Insurance
    State Of Washington Health Plan Finder
    Term Insurance
    Washington State Health Exchange

NorthWest Benefits Solutions

Licensed in
​Idaho - Oregon - Washington

Navigation

Homepage
Individual & Families
Senior Insurance
Medicare
Life Insurance
Small Business
Quotes
Contact Us
Privacy Statement
Agent Login

Connect With Us

Contact Us

NorthWest Benefits Solutions
Portland, OR 97223
(888) 780-7762

Website by InsuranceSplash
  • Home
  • Individual & Families
    • Health Insurance Overview
    • Individual Health Insurance
    • The Federal Health Marketplace
    • Alternative Health Plans
    • Supplemental insurance
    • Critical Illness Insurance
    • Indemnity Plans
    • Dental Insurance
    • Short Term
    • Telemedicine
    • Travel Insurance
  • Senior Insurance
  • Medicare
  • Life Insurance
    • Life Insurance
    • Disability Insurance
    • Final Expense Insurance
  • Small Business
    • Small Busines
    • Group Benefits
  • Resources
    • Our Agency
    • Free Consultation
    • Insurance Carriers
    • Blog
    • Local Links
    • Privacy Policy
  • Client Testimonials