Medicare health plan website misleading at best
A large national organization that serves older adults recently issued a report critiquing Medicare’s Plan Finder website, which is designed to help people choose among Medicare health plan options....
View ArticleNew study finds Medicare Advantage plan enrollees end up in lower quality...
A Brown University School of Public Health study published in Health Affairs finds that Medicare Advantage plan enrollees end up in lower quality nursing homes than people in traditional Medicare. The...
View ArticleFew doctors opt out of Medicare
If you have traditional Medicare, you have coverage from virtually any doctor or hospital in the US. While not every doctor takes Medicare, the vast majority of doctors do. That said, there are a small...
View ArticleThe danger of letting Medicare Advantage plans divert money away from medical...
The 2018 Chronic Care Act allows Medicare Advantage plans to offer enrollees non-medical services that may improve health and patient safety. However, the danger of letting Medicare Advantage plans...
View ArticlePeople shouldn’t need to shop for health care
Austin Frakt reports on a new NBER study that finds that only one in 100 Americans shop for lower-cost health care, even when it comes to simple elective procedures like MRIs. Rather, they go where...
View ArticleGuaranteeing coverage to people with pre-existing conditions critical to most...
According to a new Kaiser survey, a majority of voters say that a federal candidate’s position on pre-existing conditions is an important factor in their 2018 vote. Voters care more about this than...
View ArticleFour things to think about when choosing a plan to fill gaps in Medicare, a...
While people with Medicare have the choice of the government-administered traditional Medicare or a commercial Medicare Advantage plan that provides Medicare benefits, most people opt for traditional...
View ArticleTen ways Medicare Advantage plans differ from traditional Medicare
There is a lot of confusion surrounding Medicare Advantage plans, commercial health insurance for people with Medicare, and the ways Medicare Advantage plans differ from traditional Medicare. You are...
View ArticleDon’t rely on Medicare Advantage plans to cover care from doctors you can trust
There is not a lot of good information available to help you choose a doctor, whether the doctor is a primary care doctor or a specialist. Yet, particularly when you’re ill or injured, it is important...
View Article2018 Medicare Open Enrollment
Medicare Open Enrollment began on October 15 and runs through December 7. If you are enrolled in a Part D prescription drug plan or a Medicare Advantage plan, your out-pocket-costs and/or in-network...
View ArticleWhy enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan?
Millions of people with Medicare choose a Medicare Advantage plan over traditional Medicare. Why enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan–a commercial health plan that contracts with the government to...
View Article2019 Medicare Handbook is misleading
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has released the 2019 Medicare Handbook, which continues to be misleading in its...
View ArticleWith the midterms behind us, there’s good reason to get excited about...
With 70 percent of the public supporting Medicare for all, including a majority of Republicans, there’s good reason to be pushing hard for it. The midterm elections are yet another reason to get...
View ArticlePoll shows most Americans want more than incremental health reforms
A new Kaiser Health Tracking poll looks at how Americans are feeling about Medicare for All as well as other health care reforms. A solid majority support Medicare for All. They want more than...
View ArticlePeople with serious health needs more likely to disenroll from Medicare...
A new study by David Meyers, Brown University School of Public Health, et al., of people enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, shows that people with high health...
View ArticleNew Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: January through March
Beginning in January 2o19, there is a new Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MAOEP). You have the right to leave your Medicare Advantage plan and enroll in traditional Medicare and Medicare...
View ArticleDon’t trust your health plan’s provider directory
Traditional Medicare’s “one size fits all” approach offers a wide choice of doctors and hospitals at a predictable cost, for which you can budget. With commercial insurance, be it through a Medicare...
View ArticleCould you pay more in Medicare Advantage than traditional Medicare?
Many people with Medicare opt for a Medicare Advantage plan, a commercial insurance plan that contracts with Medicare to deliver Medicare benefits, because they believe it will save them money over...
View ArticleMedicare Medical Savings Accounts could cost you thousands
If you’re thinking about signing up for a Medicare Medical Savings Account (MSA) plan, you might want to think again. A Medicare MSA plan–sometimes called a high-deductible health plan–is a type of...
View ArticleCongress should level the playing field between traditional Medicare and...
To protect people with Medicare and give them meaningful choice, Congress needs to level the playing field between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Unless traditional Medicare and Medicare...
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