Government
Medicare health plan pay headed up
■ An occasional snapshot of current facts and trends in medicine.
Quick View. Posted May 19, 2008
Medicare officials are projecting what the program will pay next year, and Medicare Advantage plans are coming out on top while physicians face deep cuts.
| Participant | Estimated 2009 payment change |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Medicare Advantage plans | 3.6% | ||
| Long-term-care hospitals | 2.6% | ||
| Inpatient hospitals | 2.1% | ||
| Physicians | -15.0% | ||
But Congress' Medicare advisers say that, while increasingly popular, Medicare Advantage doesn't get as much bang for the buck as traditional Medicare. Private plans argue that they provide extra benefits. Critics want to save money by equalizing average per-capita health plan payments with average per-capita spending in fee-for-service Medicare.
| Payment above fee-for-service spending | November 2007 enrollment | Change from November 2006 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Medicare Advantage plans | 13% | 8.9 million | 18% |
| Coordinated care plans | 13% | 7.2 million | 8% |
| Private fee-for-service plans | 17% | 1.7 million | 101% |
Note: Estimated 2009 payment change for physicians includes 10.6% reduction on July 1.
Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
Copyright © 2008 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
