Sachin H. Jain
Medicare Advantage is on the hot seat.
High-profile critics like Don Berwick and Richard Gilfillan have called it the “Money Machine” in the pages of Health Affairs because of profit it has delivered to health system stakeholders.
Congressional inquiries have been launched into questionable Medicare Advantage marketing and clinical practices.
And some, like California Congressman Ro Khanna, have gone so far as to opine that Medicare Advantage plans should not be able to use the term “Medicare” to describe themselves, even introducing legislation to this effect.
And, yet, Medicare Advantage continues to grow apace with more than 30 million Americans—more than 50% of all people eligible for Medicare—choosing Medicare Advantage over traditional Medicare.
Why?
The answer is simple. The traditional Medicare program—which well-served generations of American—has failed to provide …