Medicare Advantage Is Solution to Health Care Policy Crisis

Better Medicare Alliance President and CEO, Allyson Y. Schwartz, wrote an op-ed for the Washington Times, reviewing the differences between Medicare Advantage and Traditional FFS Medicare. You can read the entire article on their website and review highlights below.

To learn more about the differences between Medicare Advantage and FFS, please read our latest report, a joint effort between BMA and Avalere.

• Over the past five years, Medicare Advantage enrollment has grown by nearly 50 percent. They are choosing MedicareAdvantage for its affordability, simplicity, additional benefits, and integrated system of care.
• In 2017, 99 percent of Medicare beneficiaries had access to Medicare Advantage plans, 84 percent had access to a plan with Part D benefits, and most choose these MA-PD plans. Forty-five percent of beneficiaries were in plans with $0 premium plans.
• Most Medicare Advantage plans include additional benefits, like vision, dental, wellness programs. Over 50 percent offer three or more of these extra benefits.
• The diversity of enrollees has grown in Medicare Advantage — outpacing diversity in Traditional Medicare. Over 20 percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees are minorities, compared with 17 percent in Traditional Medicare. Forty-six percent of Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries and over 35 percent of African-American enrollees choose Medicare Advantage. Nearly half of Medicare Advantage beneficiaries have annual incomes of less than $20,000.