Becker's Healthcare September 3, 2024
The challenges Medicare Advantage insurers are facing now aren’t without precedent, according to an analysis from OliverWyman.
In the late 1990s, Medicare+Choice, the precursor to Medicare Advantage faced rising medical costs and lowered reimbursements. According to OliverWyman, an advisory firm, lawmakers capped reimbursement increases at 2% annually, while healthcare inflation costs grew between 5% and 10%.
Between 1998 and 2002, the number of Medicare+Choice contracts shrank from nearly 350 to 147. Several insurers exited the program entirely.
Insurers that embraced “rigorous financial discipline” stayed in the program, analysts wrote.
To...