Medicare Advantage in the headlines: 8 recent updates

More providers are dropping Medicare Advantage plans, and lawmakers are pressing CMS over proposed payment rates to the program. 

Here are eight Medicare Advantage updates Becker's has reported since March 15. 

1. Older couples typically enroll and disenroll in Medicare Advantage plans together, a study published in JAMA found. 
   
   
2. Community Care Physicians, a Latham, N.Y.-based multispecialty medical group, went out of network with Humana Medicare Advantage plans on March 13. In a letter to patients, the medical group said the requirements imposed by the insurer have "become increasingly cumbersome." 
   
   
3. Humana is seeking to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging the insurer used an AI algorithm to wrongfully deny Medicare Advantage beneficiaries care. 
   
   
4. A group of Republican lawmakers asked CMS to reconsider its proposed 2025 rates for Medicare Advantage. Forty-five lawmakers signed a letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure expressing concerns the proposed rates could lead health plans to cut benefits for older adults and harm the viability of the program. 
   
   
5. Health system-owned Medicare Advantage enrollment continues to grow overall, but providers' share of the national MA market currently sits at 13%, compared to 17% in 2019. Geisinger Health Plan's Chief Medical Officer, John Bulger, DO, sat down with Becker's to explain how Geisinger is bucking this trend. 
   
   
6. Higher medical spending could be the new normal in Medicare Advantage — and insurers will have to find a way to respond, according to McKinsey analysts. Here are five key Medicare Advantage trends for payers to watch in 2024, according to the consulting firm. 
   
   
7. The Medicare Payment and Advisory Commission called for a "major overhaul" of Medicare Advantage policies in its annual report to Congress. The commission estimated that in 2024, the government will spend $83 billion dollars more on Medicare Advantage beneficiaries than if they were enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare.
   
   
8. A lack of payments from Medicare Advantage plans is one reason a Connecticut hospital is laying off staff, according to its CEO.