Seniors are paying attention to Medicare Advantage, and Washington should take note
Recently I traveled to Washington, D.C. with a delegation of senior citizens to talk with lawmakers about something that impacts tens of millions of Americans nationwide: Medicare Advantage. This is an issue where decisions made in Washington really do show up in people’s day-to-day lives. That’s why I appreciated Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01) and his team taking the time to sit down with me and listen to my concerns.
It has been the experience of my wife and I that Medicare Advantage makes health care easier to manage. Our care is more organized so we’re not piecing everything together from different places or keeping track of multiple bills and premiums. Medicare Advantage plans also include benefits like prescriptions, dental, and vision, and other services that help us live independently and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
It makes sense that so many seniors have chosen Medicare Advantage. More than half of Medicare beneficiaries nationwide are now enrolled in the program and most of them are happy with what they’re getting. Polling consistently shows that about nine in ten beneficiaries love their coverage.
Despite Medicare Advantage’s success, there are signs that funding for the program could start heading in the wrong direction. Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed rate update for next year, and it’s an extremely small increase of just 0.09 percent. At the same time, health care costs are not standing still. They are increasing — by a lot.
If medical costs keep rising while funding remains essentially flat, the result will be obvious: Either quality or value is going to take a hit. For us, that could lead to fewer benefits and higher prices. Even small changes can have a big impact for folks living on fixed incomes, and that’s the reality for most seniors.
Seniors get it. Most of us believe that underfunding or making cuts to the program would lead to higher costs and reduced access to care. Seniors pay attention; we vote at higher rates than almost any other group, and we don’t take issues like this lightly. We’re watching to see who is standing up for the programs we rely on and who’s sitting on the sidelines letting those programs get quietly undermined. Voters will make their satisfaction or lack thereof known in the midterm elections.
This is an opportunity for leadership. Fitzpatrick has a track record of working across the aisle for the benefit of all Pennsylvanians. I’m hopeful he will continue that approach here by speaking up and pushing for a stronger, more realistic payment update before the final rates are set.
Medicare Advantage is serving millions of American seniors, and it’s serving us well. It keeps care affordable, coordinated, and accessible. Now is not the time to undercut that. Lawmakers must work with CMS and the administration to ensure the rate finalized next month reflects the real cost of caring for seniors. The stakes are simply too high for too many Americans not to get this one right.
Former Bucks County Commissioner Andy Warren is the coauthor, with Hal Marcovitz, of Notes on Bucks County: Reflections on Politics in Pennsylvania’s Most Curious and Captivating Collar County and is a member of The Bucks County Independence‘s advisory board.
