Lawmakers, Bush Should Reduce Payments For Medicare Advantage Plans, Editorial States
"HMOs and other forms of managed care that provide preventive screenings, disease management and a comprehensive package of benefits can offer higher-quality service at lower prices by eliminating the duplication and inefficiency of the traditional system of simply paying whatever bills are submitted by Medicare providers," but "private insurers are now offering their own fee-for-service plans" that "offer nothing beyond the traditional Medicare coverage yet collect subsidies from taxpayers and beneficiary premiums," according to the editorial (Baltimore Sun, 4/27).
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission estimates that reimbursements for private Medicare Advantage plans -- which cover extra benefits, such as vision and hearing tests and treatments -- are 12% higher than reimbursements for the fee-for-service program for equivalent benefits (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/26). The "disparity is projected to balloon over the next few years, benefiting only the insurance industry," the editorial states.
According to the editorial, the equalization of reimbursements for MA plans and for the fee-for-service program would "curb the growth in costs" in Medicare and "halt a trend away from the managed care approach that originally made such plans attractive" (Baltimore Sun, 4/27).
"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Lawmakers, Bush ar trebui sã reducã plãþile pentru Medicare avantaj planuri, editorial membre - Lawmakers, Bush Should Reduce Payments For Medicare Advantage Plans, Editorial States - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate