Medicare Advantage Under the ACA

Medicare Advantage (MA) is a highly popular program that offers seniors a private alternative to traditional Medicare. While MA enrollment steadily increases, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) makes major changes to how the government pays these private plans. Insurers are responding by making significant changes to their plans, directly affecting MA beneficiaries, increasing out-of-pocket costs and premiums while narrowing the network of available providers. While administrative action has lessened the impact, the long-term effects of the payment changes are still unclear. Rather than continue the ACA’s payment cuts or revert back to the previously flawed payment system, Congress should change the benchmark payment in MA to a solely market-based system, detaching it from the traditional Medicare pricing regime.