Sept. 22--Most people on Medicare Advantage plans will see no increases in their health care premiums next year, and some enrollees could even see a slight drop, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Monday.
The millions of beneficiaries of such plans will have to wait until Oct. 1 to learn the nuances of those health insurance plans, many of which will offer richer benefits than before, Medicare officials said.
Enrollees include some 900,000 elderly and people with disabilities in Pennsylvania.
Nearly one-third of the nation's 55 million Medicare beneficiaries choose the Advantage program, which lets commercial insurers craft health policies funded by the federal government.
The average Medicare Advantage premium should slip by 31 cents to $32.60 a month in 2016, program officials said. About 59 percent of enrollees will pay no uptick in premiums, according to Medicare, which received plan blueprints from insurance companies weeks ago.
"Seniors and people with disabilities continue to experience stable premiums in Medicare health and drug plans while benefiting from a transparent and competitive marketplace," said Sean Cavanaugh, a Medicare administrator, in a statement.
Program officials would not discuss Monday the reasons for the decline but pointed to numbers showing an almost 10 percent drop in Medicare Advantage premiums since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. Average premiums dipped or held steady through 2014, then rose slightly last year.
While federal rules prevent insurers from discussing their 2016 Medicare Advantage plans publicly before October, a Medicare website offers a limited preview.
Expected premiums published there suggest some Western Pennsylvania policy prices may rise and others slide, although insurers called the information preliminary.
Still, more Medicare Advantage plans in 2016 are expected to offer supplemental benefits, such as provisions for dental, vision and hearing care, according to the program.
Officials said premiums under the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, known as Part D, also should remain stable. The average basic Medicare prescription drug plan premium should be $32.50 a month next year, they said.
Adam Smeltz: asmeltz@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2625 or on Twitter @asmeltz.
___
(c)2015 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The post No Increases For Medicare Advantage Plans appeared first on SuperShare.Info.
from WordPress http://ift.tt/1LLyzyJ
via IFTTT
0 Response to " No Increases For Medicare Advantage Plans "
Post a Comment