Medicare Advantage Insurer backed bill could increase benefits for Beneficiaries

A bill that would increase the flexibility of access to Medicare Advantage plan additional benefits is being welcomed by health insurers. The "Addressing Whole Health in Medicare Advantage Act", presented by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore, aims to improve Medicare Advantage.

These further benefits are a very recent development. Currently, only enrollees who are considered to be chronically ill and of low income are eligible for them.

A group for health insurers called America's Health Insurance Plans applauded the bill's introduction. According to Sohini Gupta, executive vice president of AHIP, "we can significantly improve the well-being of seniors by giving Medicare Advantage plans more flexibility."

With the argument that managed Medicare plans can provide Medicare enrollees with valuable additional services in addition to keeping monthly rates low, Medicare Advantage plan issuers are attempting to enter difficult budget negotiations with the current federal administration and US Congress in Washington.

Medicare is a federal program that provides health insurance for about 66 million Americans.

About 32 million of the enrollees have signed up for coverage through Medicare Advantage plans, or plans from private companies that provide what looks to the enrollee like a substitute for Original Medicare.

There are strict restrictions on the kinds of benefits that Medicare Advantage plans may provide under federal rules and regulations.

2019 changes allow issuers to include perks like food discounts, transportation discounts, and others that assist members with the "social determinants of health."

Some plans have taken advantage of this flexibility to include what may be considered modest sample-size amounts of long-term care services, such as coverage for a few days of adult daycare.

The House Ways and Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee are in charge of the legislation.