Quote:
Originally Posted by retiredguy123
It sounds like you want to abolish advantage plans altogether.
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No, that’s not necessarily true. MA plans don’t suit my wife and my needs, but that doesn’t mean they don’t work for others. I was simply answering the OP’s question regarding what it would take to get us to switch from Traditional Medicare, with a supplemental plan, to MA.
That being said, I would be in favor of abolishing them if the powers that be can’t get their act together and revise MA plans so the cost to the Medicare Fund is the same or less than traditional Medicare. By costing Medicare 22% more per subscriber than Traditional Medicare, MA plans are bleeding the rapidly dwindling Medicare Fund dry even faster, which is not a good thing for anyone involved. Plus, their excessive costs are causing everyone’s Part B premiums to increase more rapidly.
I would add that I get the appeal of MA plans for healthy subscribers, since they are much less expensive (to them, not the government) and come with benefits that Traditional Medicare subscribers don’t get. But I also worry for those people as they get older and develop potentially very expensive medical conditions. At that point, they will have a pre-existing condition and very well might not be able to switch to Traditional Medicare with a supplemental plan, since they won’t pass medical underwriting.