Better Medicare Alliance Statement on June 2022 MedPAC Report

Washington, D.C.  – Better Medicare Alliance, the leading research and advocacy group supporting Medicare Advantage, responded to MedPAC’s June 2022 report to Congress on Medicare and the health delivery system.

“While we continue to thoroughly review MedPAC’s recommendations, Better Medicare Alliance appreciates the Commission’s acknowledgment that risk adjustment in Medicare Advantage ‘has largely been successful in serving its general purpose.’ We and our partners across the Medicare Advantage community have long been committed to stable and accurate risk adjustment policies,” said Mary Beth Donahue, President and CEO of the Better Medicare Alliance. “Better Medicare Alliance looks forward to continued dialogue with the Commission, CMS, and policymakers on how to best work toward these goals while protecting the Medicare Advantage track record of success that is delivering lower per-beneficiary government spending, nearly $2,000 in annual consumer savings, and a 94% satisfaction rate for seniors.”

Further background on risk adjustment and beneficiary needs in Medicare Advantage:

• Medicare Advantage serves a proportionally more diverse, medically complex, and socially at-risk beneficiary population than FFS Medicare.
  • Data analysis shows that 52.7% of Medicare Advantage beneficiaries live below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, compared to 38.3% of FFS Medicare beneficiaries.
  • Medicare Advantage beneficiaries are more likely to self-report having three or more chronic conditions, they are more likely to be food insecure, and are more likely to self-report diagnoses of diabetes, COPD, congestive heart failure, or dementia, to name a few.
  • Enrollment in Medicare Advantage among beneficiaries who are dually-eligible for Medicaid increased by 125% from 2013 to 2019 alone, even as it decreased by 5% in FFS Medicare.
  • Avalere Health reports that “Medicare Advantage has a higher proportion of patients with clinical and social risk factors shown to affect health outcomes and cost than FFS Medicare.”
    

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