7 Things You Need to Know About MEDICARE ADVANTAGE
Over 28 million seniors and people with disabilities choose Medicare Advantage. Unlike original Medicare, Medicare Advantage delivers better services, better access to care, and better value, and continues to receive high rates of satisfaction from members who use it.
Reduces Costs for Taxpayers
Medicare Advantage helps drive down costs for taxpayers: the more people enroll in Medicare Advantage, the slower costs grow for original Medicare.²
Providing Better Financial Security
Medicare Advantage protects members' health and financial security. For 2022, the average Medicare Advantage monthly premium dropped to $19.00, representing a 47% decrease since 2017. By keeping costs low, Medicare Advantage ensures those living on fixed incomes-like the 40% of Medicare Advantage members who make less than $25,000 a year- have access to stable, affordable health care.
Promoting Health & Peace of Mind
In the wake of COVID-19, Medicare Advantage plans took action to ensure members had access to necessary services, including eliminating patient cost-sharing for diagnostic testing, treatment, and vaccines for COVID-19, expanding telehealth services, and more. Medicare Advantage also keeps seniors and people with disabilities healthier, outperforming original Medicare on 16 out of 16 clinical quality measures.³
Popular and Growing
Medicare Advantage plans cover 28 million Americans- 44% of all those eligible to enroll. People are choosing Medicare Advantage plans because they deliver better services, better care, and better value.⁴
Payments Equivalent to Original Medicare
Today, the average payment to Medicare Advantage is on par with costs for original Medicare. But because Medicare Advantage plans deliver more benefits and better value than original Medicare, Americans are getting more for less.⁵
Overwhelming Support for Medicare Advantage
Not only do senior voters who choose Medicare Advantage report overwhelming satisfaction (93%) with their coverage,6 but 3 in 4 think it is important that the federal government protect funding for Medicare Advantage. In 2021 a bipartisan group of 13 U.S. senators came together in a letter to voice their support for Medicare Advantage and underscore their commitment to protecting it from harmful cuts.7
1 Based on AHIP analysis of 2018 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey Public Use File 2 Johnson, Garret, Figueroa, José F., Zhou, Xiner, et al. Recent growth in Medicare Advantage enrollment associated with decreased fee-for-service spending in certain US counties. Health Affairs 35(9): 1707-1715. September 2016 3 Timbie, Justin W., Bogart, Andy, Damberg, Cheryl et al. Medicare Advantage and fee-for-service performance on clinical quality and patient experience measures: Comparisons from three large states. Health Services Research 52(6), Part I: 2038-2060. December 2017. 4 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicare Advantage/Part D Contract and Enrollment Data. December 2021. 5 https://www.medpac.gov/wp-content/uploads/import_data/scrape_files/docs/default-source/reports/mar21_medpac_report_to_the_congress_sec.pdf 6 Morning Consult National Poll on behalf of the Coalition for Medicare Choices. December 3-6, 2021. 7 https://www.ahip.org/ahip-applauds-bipartisan-group-of-senators-for-defending-medicare-advantage/