Health Insurance Plans for Mature Adult/Elderly
03/05/2007
We learn on the playground that empty threats are pointless, even dangerous. That's how some analysts view the possibility of the federal government negotiating Medicare Part D drug prices: virtually a waste of time, but potentially damaging to the program.
Advocates of negotiation say that if the Veterans Health Administration can negotiate lower drug prices for its members successfully, why can't the Department of Health and Human Services?
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03/05/2007
Net Medicare Part D costs for fiscal year 2008 are estimated to be 30 percent less - $189 billion lower - than projected when the benefit was created back in 2003, according to independent actuaries.
In addition, based on competitive bids by health care plans in 2007, the average monthly premium will be approximately $22, down from $23 in 2006, if enrollees remain with their current plans.
The updated Medicare Part D baseline of payments to Part D plans for the fiscal year 2008 budget cycle was decreased from last summer's mid-session review numbers by $113 billion over the next 10 years (from 2007 to 2016).
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03/03/2007
Reprinted from the Dec. 21, 2006, issue of MEDICARE
ADVANTAGE NEWS, biweekly news and analysis on the Medicare (and
Medicaid) managed care programs.
Sponsors of Medicare drug plans ought to calculate payables and receivables
associated with provisions in the Part D program such as the risk corridor,
reinsurance and low-income cost-sharing subsidy provisions "as
quickly as possible," an actuary tells AIS. He estimates that as
many as 75% of Part D plans will owe money to CMS under the risk-corridor
provision alone - in amounts that could climb above $10 million
for even mid-sized plans with 40,000 to 50,000 members.
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03/03/2007
Jerry Kelly, 59, a Redwood City, Calif., accountant and his wife, Brenda, 57, were stunned after being rejected recently for private health insurance: "We were turned down for ridiculous reasons, including the fact that I take 10 milligrams of Lipitor every day," he says.
Lipitor, for lowering cholesterol, is one of the most common prescription drugs sold in the United States, and Kelly says it is the only medication he takes regularly.
"Last October my wife and I had complete physicals and were told we were in excellent health," he says. "Nothing [the insurer] listed in their rejection added up to any real health problems.
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03/02/2007
Total outlays for the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) for 2008 is estimated at $612 billion, an increase of $26 billion, or 4.4 percent, over FY 2007 . This includes estimated outlays of $499 billion in retired-worker benefits (OASI), $103 billion in disabled-worker benefits, and $9.7 billion in other expenses such as administration, beneficiary services, payments to the Railroad Retirement Board, and demonstration projects. Additionally, the number of individuals receiving benefits under the Social Security programs is expected to increase by 900,000.
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03/02/2007
Back in 1999, there were over six million enrolled
in Medicare+Choice, but the insurance companies wanted more federal
funding for these programs and began shutting them down when they did
not get it. More than a million seniors had lost their coverage by 2003.
The Medicare reform in 2003 gave new financial life
to the program and gave it a much needed new name - Medicare Advantage.
But, many in Congress have been concerned about the federal dollars
flowing into the program.
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03/01/2007
Medicare | Studies Examine Medication Prices, Language Services Under Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
[Mar 01, 2007]
Two studies released this week examine cost increases for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the prescription drug benefit and language services provided by Medicare drug plans. Summaries of news coverage appear below.Drug costs: More than 25% of Medicare drug plans increased beneficiaries' copayments and prices for prescription drugs in 2006, often after beneficiaries were committed to plans for the year, according to a study released Wednesday by Consumers Union, USA Today reports.
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