Here are two articles which I found interesting. I’m trying to get a good estimate on what the changes in Capitation rates would mean to Medicare Advantage members and the first article estimates changes at $40 to $70 per month in lost benefits and/or increased premiums. I’ve seen estimates in the $50 to $100 range as well. This article also clarifies that any legislative changes to fix the 21% reduction in the Physician’s fee schedule which will occur without a legislative fix would have to occur before June 1st in order to be of any benefit to Medicare Advantage capitation rates. This is highly unlikely to happen as this is proposed to be included in a larger Health Reform package which is slated for September of 2009. Also contained in this article is the positioning of the rate cut by politicians to avoid a backlash during the 2010 mid year elections. Undoubtedly, there will be over 10 million unhappy Medicare Beneficiaries learning about their 2010 benefits about a month before the November 3rd, 2009 election day. Politicians would like to blame the changes on the insurance companies, of course. Here is the article.
The second article is from US News and World Report and identifies Medicare Advantage 2010 rates as one of the five major issues facing retirees in 2010. Here is the article.
