Health Payer Intelligence December 26, 2017
The Medicare program may have to readjust cost benchmarks because the benchmarks tend to create operating inefficiencies among Medicare Advantage plans.
New research from the Commonwealth Fund found that the Medicare Advantage (MA) benchmark bidding system, which was intended to reduce plan inefficiencies, has allowed health plans to benefit financially while remaining cost inefficient.
Since 2006, Medicare offered MA health plans a rebate if their health plans achieved a cost lower than an Medicare-established benchmark, which accounted for the operating costs of a health and a beneficiary’s expected costs. The benchmarks are intended to fund improvements to member benefits, but health plan benchmarks have allowed MA plans to earn rebates even with high costs, according to the researchers.
Provisions in...
Today's Sponsors
Today's Sponsor