MedPage Today October 15, 2025
MA plan design may steer patients to specific centers, researchers suggest
Key Takeaways
- Enrollment in Medicare Advantage among those undergoing cancer surgeries increased from 32% in 2016 to 46% in 2022.
- Medicare Advantage enrollees were less likely to undergo cancer surgery at high-quality hospitals versus traditional Medicare beneficiaries.
- These findings suggest the Medicare Advantage plan design may steer patients to specific centers, potentially limiting choice.
Patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans were less likely to receive cancer surgery at high-quality hospitals compared with traditional Medicare enrollees, a national retrospective cohort study suggested.
Among over 500,000 older adults, higher proportions enrolled in traditional Medicare underwent cancer surgeries at high-quality hospitals compared with those in MA plans:
- Esophagectomy:...
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