http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A study published online today finds that the private insurance companies that participate in Medicare under the Medicare Advantage program and its predecessors have cost the publicly funded program for the elderly and disabled an extra $282.6 billion since 1985, most of it over the past eight years. In 2012 alone, private insurers were overpaid $34.1 billion. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-private-medicare-advantage-extra-billion.html Health Fri, 10 May 2013 14:05:07 EST news287413498 Medicare Advantage customers may not see the drastic 2014 benefit cuts or premium hikes that insurers have been warning about after all. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-cms-softens-medicare-advantage-funding.html Health Tue, 02 Apr 2013 05:10:01 EST news284096988 (HealthDay)—Payment and policy updates have been proposed for 2014, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Advanced Notice and draft Call Letter published Feb. 15. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-cms-payment-policy.html Health Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:23:42 EST news280751011 In a study that included nearly 1.3 million Medicare beneficiaries who were either first-time enrollees or enrollees switching plans, researchers found a positive association between enrollment and publicly reported Medicare Advantage star ratings reflecting plan quality, according to a study appearing in the January 16 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-higher-quality-medicare-advantage-linked.html Health Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:00:02 EST news277452859 Medicare Advantage (MA), with more than 10 million enrollees, is the largest alternative to traditional Medicare. MA's managed care approach was designed to provide coordinated, integrated care for patients and savings for taxpayers, but since the program launched as Medicare Part C in 1985, critics have said that the system limited enrollee freedom of choice without significant benefit or savings to the Medicare program. They also pointed to the tendency of some private payers to design benefit plans and marketing campaigns that attracted healthier patients, leaving sicker, moreexpensive patients in traditional Medicare— a process known as favorable selection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-competition-efficiencies-medicare-advantage.html Health Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:39:24 EST news273775156 Elderly beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare plans are more satisfied with their health insurance, have better access to care, and are less likely to have problems paying medical bills than people who get insurance through employers or those who purchase coverage on their own, according to a new Commonwealth Fund study published today in Health Affairs. The study also found that beneficiaries enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans are less satisfied with their insurance than those with a traditional Medicare plan, and more likely to experience access problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-elderly-medicare-beneficiaries-health.html Health Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:09:00 EST news261846529 Because healthy enrollees cost them less, Medicare Advantage plans would profit from selecting seniors based on their health, but Medicare strictly forbids practices such as denying coverage based on existing conditions. Another way to build a more profitable membership is to design insurance benefits that attract the healthiest patients. In a study published in the Jan. 12, 2012, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, Brown University researchers report that plans have managed to do just that by offering fitness club memberships as a covered benefit. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-gym-benefits-medicare-healthy-seniors.html Health Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:00:07 EST news245509761 In health care, more choice may not always lead to better choices, particularly for the elderly. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-complex-choices-medicare-advantage-overwhelm.html Health Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:07:54 EST news232859249