Maybe Traditional Medicare Should Cover Chronic Care, House Health Subcommittee Hears

Witnesses at a Washington, D.C. hearing on the Medicare Advantage program by the House Ways & Means health subcommittee welcomed a proposal by program managers to let issuers add chronic care benefits to the 2019 benefits packages, reports Think Advisor . However, some suggested that limiting access to those benefits to enrollees might be unfair to beneficiaries staying with the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program. Karoline Mortensen from the University of Miami voiced concerns that adding chronic care benefits to Medicare Advantage, but not to the traditional fee-for-service program, could raise fairness issues. "Make sure traditional fee-for-service enrollees are not left out," she argued. Still, Mortensen said a challenge for Medicare Advantage managers and observers has been working out how to build adjustments for enrollees' socioeconomic status into plan quality ratings. Meanwhile, Clover Health's Andrew Toy noted benefits for technology could be important to helping keep people with chronic health problems in their homes. He also said permitting more flexibility for telemedicine benefits could help plan issuers comply with Medicare Advantage provider network adequacy standards, especially in rural regions. Jack Hoadley from the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute said he thinks consumers need one-on-one help with understanding and selecting Medicare Advantage plans, in addition to access to the MedicareAdvantage plan selection website.