Administration Announces Increased Payments To Medicare Advantage Plans
The final announcement about rates reverses a slight decrease proposed in February. Also in Medicare news, The Hill looks at a lobbying effort seeking to derail the House bill to revamp payments to doctors and the departing head of MedPAC looks back at his tenure.
The Wall Street Journal:
Medicare Advantage Payments To Rise For 2016
Federal regulators on Monday said 2016 payments to insurers that offer private Medicare plans will go up compared with this year, reversing a slight decline proposed in February. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated that the government’s Medicare Advantage payments will rise about 1.25% next year, though the agency said insurers likely will see their overall revenue increase about 3.25% as they deliver, and bill for, more intensive services. (Wilde Matthews, 4/6)
Bloomberg:
United, Humana Get Surprise Medicare Revenue Boost From U.S.
Health insurers such as UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc. will see revenue for commercial Medicare policies increase 1.25 percent next year, reversing an earlier U.S. government proposal that would have cut payments. The announcement was a surprise, since the U.S. has been reducing payments to insurers as it seeks to bring the cost of privately managed Medicare coverage in line with the government-run version of the program for the elderly and disabled. Payments are already falling 4 percent this year, and in February the U.S. proposed an 0.9 percent reduction for 2016. (Tracer, 4/6)
Reuters:
Govt Payments For Medicare Advantage Plans To Rise In 2016
The increase for 2016 versus the decline announced in February results from expectations of Medicare Advantage spending growth of 4.2 percent, compared with the 1.7 percent the government forecast in February. The 4.2 percent growth reflects additional spending in 2014 and 2015, as well as higher expected outlays in 2016. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said higher spending was due to hospitalizations, rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers. It also includes a 0.1 percent increase based on the assumption that Congress will enact legislation raising Medicare payments to doctors. (Humer, 4/6)
Politico Pro:
Medicare Advantage Rates Again Get A Bump Up, Not Down
CMS is giving Medicare Advantage plans a small rate hike for 2016 — reversing its proposed modest cut to the private health plans, whose lobbying campaign had support from Capitol Hill. (Mershon, 4/6)
CQ Healthbeat:
Medicare Officials Release Medicare Advantage Policies
Medicare officials announced Monday that they stuck to their proposed payment cuts for the private Medicare Advantage plans that serve seniors and people with disabilities. But they unveiled updated cost estimates that show that the plans will get higher payments than the agency previously estimated. In February, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed cuts of 0.95 percent that officials said would translate into an average 1.05 percent increase for most plans after changes in the way that insurers code patients’ conditions are considered. In the final policy that was released Monday, CMS officials said new health spending growth estimates now show that the cut of 0.95 percent will actually be a 1.25 percent increase. (Adams, 4/6)
The Hill:
Last-Minute Lobbying Threatens $200B Medicare Package
Lawmakers and lobbyists representing children’s insurance advocates, seniors’ healthcare providers and other specialty groups are pressing to amend a $200 billion Medicare package the Senate hopes to send to President Obama’s desk next week. The underlying bill would permanently change Medicare to prevent cuts in physician payments that Congress has had to repeatedly patch for more than two decades. (Ferris, 4/7)
CQ Healthbeat:
Departing MedPAC Chief Pushes Focus On Outcomes Over Process
One of the few regrets that Glenn M. Hackbarth has about his 15-year tenure on the influential Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is how it approached efforts to better align doctors' reimbursements with their performance. (Young, 4/6)