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Seniors Face Provider Accessibility Issues with Medicare Advantage Plans

As Seniors Get Sicker, They’re More Likely To Drop Medicare Advantage Plans

When Sol Shipotow enrolled in a new Medicare Advantage health plan earlier this year, he expected to keep the doctor who treats his serious eye condition.

“That turned out not to be so,” said Shipotow, 83, who lives in Bensalem, Pa.

Shipotow said he had to scramble to get back on a health plan he could afford and that his longtime eye specialist would accept. “You have to really understand your policy,” he said. “I thought it was the same coverage.”

Boosters say that privately run Medicare Advantage plans, which enroll about one-third of all people eligible for Medicare, offer good value. They strive to keep patients healthy by coordinating their medical care through cost-conscious networks of doctors and hospitals.

But some critics argue the plans can prove risky for seniors in poor or declining health, or those like Shipotow who need to see specialists, because they often face hurdles getting access.

A recent report by the Government Accountability Office, the auditing arm of Congress, adds new weight to criticisms that some health plans may leave sicker patients worse off.

The GAO report, released this spring, reviewed 126 Medicare Advantage plans and found that 35 of them had disproportionately high numbers of sicker people dropping out. Patients cited difficulty with access to “preferred doctors and hospitals” or other medical care, as the leading reasons for leaving.

“People who are sicker are much more likely to leave (Medicare Advantage plans) than people who are healthier,” James Cosgrove, director of the GAO’s health care analysis, said in explaining the research.

David Lipschutz, an attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, says the GAO findings were alarming and should prompt tighter government oversight.

“A Medicare Advantage plan sponsor does not have an evergreen right to participate in and profit from the Medicare program, particularly if it is providing poor care,” Lipschutz says.

The GAO did not name the 35 health plans, though it urged federal health officials to consider a large exodus from a plan as a possible sign of substandard care. Most of the 35 health plans were relatively small, with 15,000 members or fewer, and had received poor scores on other government quality measures, the report said. Two dozen plans saw 1 in 5 patients leave in 2014, much higher turnover than normal, the GAO found.

Medicare Advantage plans now treat more than 19 million patients, and are expected to grow as record numbers of baby boomers reach retirement age.

Kristine Grow, a spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group, says Medicare Advantage keeps expanding because most people who sign up are satisfied with the care they receive.

She says that patients in the GAO study mostly switched from one health plan to another because they got a better deal, either through cheaper or more inclusive coverage.

Grow says many Medicare Advantage plans offer members extra benefits not covered by standard Medicare, such as fitness club memberships or vision or dental care, and do a better job of coordinating medical care to keep people active and out of hospitals.

“We have to remember these are plans working hard to deliver the best care they can,” Grow says. Insurers compete vigorously for business and “want to keep members for the long term,” she adds.

Some seniors, wary of problems ahead, are choosing to go with traditional Medicare coverage. Pittsburgh resident Marcy Grupp says she mulled over proposals from Medicare Advantage plans but worried she might need orthopedic or other specialized health care and wanted the freedom to go to any doctor or hospital. She’s decided on standard Medicare coverage and paid for a “Medigap” policy to pick up any uncovered charges.

“Everything is already in place,” says Grupp, a former administrative assistant who turns 65 this month.

The GAO report on Medicare Advantage comes as federal officials are ramping up fines and other penalties against errant health plans.

In the first two months of this year, for instance, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services fined 10 Medicare Advantage health plans a total of more than $4.1 million for alleged misconduct that “delayed or denied access” to covered benefits, mostly prescription drugs.

In some of these cases, health plans charged patients too much for drugs or failed to advise them of their right to appeal denials of medical services, according to government records. Industry watchers predict more penalties are to come.

Last month, CMS officials ended a 16-month ban on enrollment in Cigna Corp.’s Medicare Advantage plans. CMS took the action after citing Cigna for “widespread and systematic failures” to provide necessary medical care and prescription drugs, policies officials called a “serious threat to enrollee health and safety.”

A flurry of whistleblower lawsuits have surfaced, too. In late May, Freedom Health, a Florida Medicare Advantage insurer, agreed to pay nearly $32 million to settle allegations that it exaggerated how sick some patients were to boost profits, while getting rid of others who cost a lot to treat.

 

The Affordable Care Act Cadillac Tax

Scheduled to take effect in 2018, the “Cadillac Tax” is a 40% non-deductible excise tax on employer-sponsored health coverage that provides high-cost benefits.

On February 23, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a notice covering a number of issues concerning the Cadillac Tax, and requested comments on the possible approaches that could ultimately be incorporated into proposed regulations. No regulations have been issued to date.

CADILLAC TAX
What it is/fee duration Permanent, non-deductible, annual tax beginning in 2018 on high-cost employer-sponsored health coverage.
Purposes
  • Reduce tax preferred treatment of employer provided health care
  • Reduce excess health care spending by employees and employers
  • Help finance the expansion of health coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
Amount
  • The tax is 40% of the cost of health coverage that exceeds predetermined threshold amounts.
  • Cost of coverage includes the total contributions paid by both the employer and employees, but not cost-sharing amounts such as deductibles, coinsurance and copays when care is received.
  • For planning purposes, the thresholds for high-cost plans are currently $10,200 for individual coverage, and $27,500 for family coverage.
  • These thresholds will be updated for 2018 when final regulations are issued and thereafter indexed for inflation in future years.
  • The thresholds will also be increased:
    • If the majority of covered employees are engaged in specified high-risk professions such as law enforcement and construction, and
    • For group demographics including age and gender.
  • For pre-65 retirees and individuals in high-risk professions, the threshold amounts are currently $11,850 for individual coverage and $30,950 for family coverage.
Who calculates and pays
  • Insured: Employers calculate and insurers pay
  • Self-funded: Employers calculate and “the person who administers the plan benefits” pays
  • HSAs and Archer MSAs: Employers calculate and employers pay
How a group health plan’s cost is determined
  • The tax is based on the total cost of each employee’s coverage above the threshold amount.
  • The cost includes contributions toward the cost of coverage made by employers and employees.
  • The statute states that costs of coverage will be calculated under rules similar to the rules for calculating COBRA premium.
How the tax will be paid Forms and instructions for paying the tax are not yet available.
Tax implications Cadillac Tax payments are not deductible for federal tax purposes.
Applicable types of coverage
  • Insured and self-insured group health plans (including behavioral, and prescription drug coverage)
  • Wellness programs that are group health plans (most wellness programs)
  • Health Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
  • Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), employer and employee pre-tax contributions*
  • Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs)*
  • Archer Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs), all pre-tax contributions*
  • On-site medical clinics providing more than de minimis care*
  • Executive Physical Programs*
  • Pre-tax coverage for a specified disease or illness
  • Hospital indemnity or other fixed indemnity insurance
  • Federal/State/Local government-sponsored plans for its employees
  • Retiree coverage
  • Multi-employer (Taft-Hartley) plans
Excluded types of coverage
  • U.S.-issued expatriate plans for most categories of expatriates
  • Coverage for accident only, or disability income insurance, or any combination thereof
  • Supplemental liability insurance
  • Liability insurance, including general liability insurance and automobile liability insurance
  • Worker’s compensation or similar insurance
  • Automobile medical payment insurance
  • Credit-only insurance
  • Other insurance coverage as specified in regulations under which benefits for medical care are secondary or incidental to other insurance benefits
  • Long Term Care
  • Standalone dental and vision*
  • Coverage for the military sponsored by federal, state or local governments*
  • Employee Assistance Programs*
  • Employee After-Tax Contributions to HSAs and MSAs*
  • Coverage for a specified disease or illness and hospital indemnity or other fixed indemnity insurance if payment is not excluded from gross income

*As indicated by IRS notice issued on February 23, 2015 and subject to future regulatory clarification.

How it works: Examples based on current threshold amounts

Self-only coverage
A $12,000 individual plan would pay an excise tax of $720 per covered employee:
$12,000 – $10,200 = $1,800 above the $10,200 threshold
$1,800 x 40% = $720

Family coverage
A $32,000 family plan would pay an excise tax of $1,800 per covered employee:
$32,000 – $27,500 = $4,500 above the $27,500 threshold
$4,500 x 40% = $1,800

These charts show how the tax increases as the plan’s cost increases.

Self-only coverage

Plan Cost $11,000 $12,000 $13,000 $14,000 $15,000
Tax $320 $720 $1,120 $1,520 $1,920

Family coverage

Plan Cost $28,000 $30,000 $32,000 $34,000 $36,000
Tax $200 $1,000 $1,800 $2,600 $3,400

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