Health plans say spending estimates for Medicare beneficiaries could result in a 5% rate decrease and ultimately prompt some plans to drop out.
By Chris Silva, AMNews staff. Posted March 13.
Washington Medicare private plans may be in line for rate cuts starting in 2010 under spending projections released Feb. 20 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
CMS announced that the National Per Capita Medicare Advantage Growth Percentage for next year -- an estimation of how much more the program will need to spend on all beneficiaries -- will be only 0.5%. This could result in a 5% cut in Medicare Advantage payments, according to America's Health Insurance Plans.
Based on internal calculations and other market estimates, AHIP believes such a reduction could force health plans to increase premiums for seniors and cut back on benefits provided, said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for the association. It also could prompt some plans to start pulling out of Medicare Advantage, which would impact payments made to physicians, he added.....
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