News 2945 Medicare Supplement Insurance Medicare Advantage Poor Health

A new report from the Commonwealth Fund suggests that seniors can save money by enrolling in a Medicare Advantage health insurance plan. However, seniors in poor health will have a harder time finding such a plan than seniors in good health. The study points out that seniors in good health can save money if they enroll in any of the 88 available plans and seniors in average health will benefit from all but two of the available plans but for seniors with poor health 19 of the 88 plans will end up costing them more money. The authors of the report offer several suggestions for improving Medicare Advantage plans to benefit all seniors regardless of health status. They say benefit plans should be better standardized and simplified, excessive cost-sharing should be prohibited and annual Medicare Advantage lock-in plan for beneficiaries should be suspended until new protections are put into place.

Read more: Seniors in Poor Health May Pay More in Medicare Advantage Plans (Senior Journal) May 19,2006 - Beneficiaries in poor health can pay more out of pocket for care in Medicare Advantage (MA) managed care plans than in traditional Medicare with Medigap supplemental coverage, a new Commonwealth Fund report finds.