Reduced funding from Washington plus Obamacare rules combine to cause significant Medicare Advantage cuts from major insurance carriers. In some cases premiums will rise along with cost sharing. In other situations Medicare Advantage plans offered in 2013 will not return for the 2014 plan year.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc., which together account for about 37.5% of all Medicare Advantage enrollments, said that anticipated 2014 market withdrawals will affect roughly 5.1% and 3.2% of their total Medicare Advantage members, respectively.
If Medicare Advantage cuts mean your plan is discontinued, you may want to consider an affordable Medicare supplement plan. Georgia Medicare Plans has access to very low cost Medigap plans and can guide you through the transition to original Medicare plus a stable supplement plan. Shop and compare now.
In many cases our clients have found Medicare supplement plan N to be a good replacement for an Advantage plan. Greater flexibility, access to more providers and considerably less out of pocket.
The Medicare Advantage cuts may not seem like much on the surface, but if you are in a rural area where the number of Advantage plans is limited you might want to consider a change.
Even if you keep an Advantage plan, you may have to drive for miles to find a doctor or hospital that accepts that plan. Patients that have original Medicare and a supplement never run into network issues.
“The depth of the underfunding of these benefits to seniors is causing us to exit certain market areas, reduce the number of plan offerings and reduce benefits in the majority of the local markets we serve commensurate with our review of the competitive position and long-term sustainability of our services for each individual market,” UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley said
The problem of Medicare Advantage cuts is not new, but one that will only get worse going forward thanks in part to Obamacare.
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