Quote:
Originally Posted by Happydaz
I was taking with a friend today and I had mentioned that Advantage plans cost the Medicare program more per patient than regular Medicare. He was very surprised to hear that since Advantage plans were originally developed to save money as regular Medicare costs were at that time increasing at a rapid rate. These Advantage plans were supposed to save the Medicare fund money by having drug choice restrictions, physician choice restrictions, specialist access restrictions, etc. Unfortunately, due to bonus payments and other unseen costs the average Advantage patient costs Medicare $321 more than a regular Medicare part B patient!
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It’s complicated. There are some reasons the government is fine with paying more per patient with Advantage plans over traditional Medicare. For instance, better health outcomes (after controlling for medical conditions) and medical innovation are common benefits arising from Advantage plans on average.
Lots have been written about this comparison from more serious sources. It’s not fair to simply compare cost per person. Consider costs AND (long term) benefits of each. For example:
Medicare Advantage: A Policy Primer | Commonwealth Fund