Many seniors chose not to make a shift during the 2022 open enrollment season because they did not think they could find a health plan better than their current one.Nearly nine out of every ten American seniors had not changed Medicare plans with less than a month left in the 2022 open enrollment season, according to a MedicareGuide.com survey. MedicareGuide.com surveyed over 2,280 seniors over the age of 65 from November 15 through November 17, 2021. At the time of the survey, there were three weeks left in the 2022 Medicare open enrollment season. “Historically, most beneficiaries don’t change plans, but coverage and cost can change significantly year to year, especially now because of Covid,” said Jeff Smedsrud, the co-founder of HealthCare.com, MedicareGuide’s parent company. “It is becoming easier to use online tools to review your plan and find potential savings. It pays to shop around.”
These results sync with a previous survey which found that, while the coronavirus pandemic caused many younger Americans to consider changing their health plans, older Americans were reticent to do so. Seniors noted a handful of reasons why they chose not to change Medicare Advantage plans. Most seniors who did not change health plans (67 percent) said that they could not find a better health plan than the one that already covered them. Nearly one in five seniors said that they did not change health plans because they would not have saved on their premiums. Cost seemed to be a major factor in seniors' health plan selection process in 2022. Zero-dollar premium Medicare Advantage plans have gained in popularity, driving down the average health plan premium to $4 per month. However, most beneficiaries who did switch plans and found a plan with a lower premium (85 percent) saved between $0 and $50 each year. Another 18 percent of seniors did not change health plans because they found the process overwhelming. Lack of healthcare literacy and general confusion about the health plan selection process are perennial problems during open enrollment season. According to a survey commissioned by GoHealth, almost four in ten beneficiaries found Medicare resources confusing. Eleven percent of all respondents switched to Medicare Advantage from Original Medicare, primarily due to Medicare Advantage’s benefits. The hesitance to change health plans is not new. Most beneficiaries have never switched health plans before (66 percent). Eighteen percent reported that they had changed health plans one time. Even more beneficiaries (85 percent) reported that they did not change their prescription drug health plan during the 2022 open enrollment season. For 9 percent of those who changed their prescription drug plans, pricing was the primary driver. Seniors also prioritized supplemental benefits. Fifteen percent of respondents were looking for dental, hearing, and vision benefits, while 13 percent sought improved drug coverage. Medicare Advantage plans and advocates have pushed to protect supplemental benefits in Medicare Advantage. For example, Better Medicare Alliance made several recommendations to CMS regarding how to preserve supplemental benefits in order to enhance health equity efforts in the senior patient population. Although supplemental benefits have been marked as a unique strength of Medicare Advantage coverage, these benefits in Medicare Advantage can still result in out-of-pocket healthcare spending, an analysis from Kaiser Family Foundation found. As a result, policymakers are considering whether to include supplemental benefit coverage in fee-for-service Medicare for services such as hearing and vision. In a letter to Congress, Better Medicare Alliance also stressed the need to structure fee-for-service Medicare benefits in such a way that they do not interfere with Medicare Advantage benefits. Source: https://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/few-seniors-have-changed-plans-during-2022-open-enrollment  |
With looming deadlines of October 15, for Medicare’s traditional open enrollment date, and the overlap of the first enrollment period for Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act set to start on October 1 – December 7, has caused a lot of confusion among seniors over their coverage.
The chief executive of Avalere Health, Dan Mendelson, explains that even in cases when switching Part D plans is the most economical option, seniors are still more reluctant to do so. Yet, due to repercussions from health-care laws, there are some changes to the Part D program and it is important to have senior's evaluate their options so they can be assured they are on the best plan for their prescriptions. A new plan from Humana's Wal-Mart-Preferred Rx Plan boasts a $14.80 premium in all regions; however, premiums not only depend on cost but also deductibles, coinsurance, and doughnut hole coverage. Specific details of the Part D plans will be released in time for Annual Enrollment, on November 15th.
After December 31, 2010 a new health law goes into effect prohibiting physician-owned hospitals opening after that day from taking part in Medicare and other federal health programs. Whereas 30 hospitals are expected to open before the deadline, 44 will be unable to open in time; and, in some cases doctors will have to sell their stakes in order to open. Not only are there restrictions on the hospitals being built, but also on expansions. Some conditions that will be considered for new or expanding physician-owned hospitals are that the hospital is located in a state with a shortage of hospital beds, in a county that is showing growth 50% faster than the rest of the state, or seeing more Medicaid patient than other hospitals in their county. It has been suggested that very few hospitals will be able to meet these requirements. This new law stems from non-profit community hospitals and for-profit institutions without physician investors believing physician-owned hospitals are taking all of the lucrative outpatient surgery. In 2003 there was a moratorium placed on the construction of physician hospitals that lasted until August 2006; and, denying access to Medicare and federal health program funding is the newest attempt to suppress physician-owned hospitals.
Medicare's chief actuary, Rick Foster, projects the new Health Care law savings of $575 comes from slowing the increase in fees paid to hospitals, home health agencies, and reducing payments to private Medicare Advantage plans. The new Health Care law does slow the growth of Medicare; but, does not cut spending from year to year over the next decade. In fact, no benefits under traditional Medicare will be eliminated and some will be added. The biggest impact will be on the roughly 24% of seniors on Medicare Advantage who will see extra benefits on their plan eliminated and some plans shut down all together. Seniors are concerned about finding new doctors, if and when they have to, and some doctors are refusing new Medicare patients because Medicare doesn't pay enough. Plus, a 1997 law beginning December 1, reduces doctors' Medicare payments even more causing concern. The law also adds new benefits to Medicare including free preventive screenings and $250 rebates to those seniors who hit the "doughnut hole" of prescription drug coverage and the changes will keep the Medicare hospital trust fun afloat until 2029, which is twelve years longer than projected without the law. Most speculate that Congress will postpone these law from going into effect.
