Index Investing News
Friday, May 9, 2025
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Home
  • World
  • Investing
  • Financial
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Stocks
  • Crypto
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Home
  • World
  • Investing
  • Financial
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Stocks
  • Crypto
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Index Investing News
No Result
View All Result

Timothy Taylor on Medicare Advantage

by Index Investing News
August 31, 2022
in Economy
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
0
Home Economy
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


Why are people choosing Medicare Advantage plans? The main reasons are that the insurance plan is required to cover everything in Medicare Part A and B, but it is also allowed to provide additional services–at no additional cost to the patient. Some common add-ons include certain vision, hearing, and dental services, and sometimes services like transportation to the doctor and subsidies for joining a health club. In addition, Medicare Advantage plans can be customized, so that they provide more coverage (say, lower co-pays) for the services you know you are more likely to use. In some areas, you can even make a fairly seamless transition from health insurance provided through your employer, by a certain company, to health insurance provided by Medicare, through the same insurance company.

This is from “Medicare: Becoming a Channel for Private-Sector Insurance,” Conversable Economist, August 30, 2022. The whole thing is well worth reading. It makes me wonder whether, when I retired at age 66, I should have taken Medicare Advantage. I didn’t. I had great insurance as a federal employee and the feds pay the same towards my and my wife’s insurance that they would have paid if I had remained employed. Still, I’m paying $7,000 a year for my health insurance. And of course that doesn’t include co-pays and deductibles.

I also found this part particularly interesting:

For example, various versions of “Medicare for All” legislation have been proposed. In some versions, this would be a universal national health insurance plan run by the government. Whatever the merits or demerits of such a proposal, actual real-world Medicare is shifting to a choice of plans run by insurance companies, and only funded by the government. The elderly have a choice between having their health insurance administered by the US government or by a private insurance firm–and they are choosing the private firm.

Since 48% of Medicare beneficiaries are in Medicare Advantage, up from just 19% in 2007, that means that one of the biggest lobbies against Medicare for All, if run by government, will be participants in Medicare Advantage.

I had heard that Medicare Advantage costs the government more than it pays for people in Medicare Parts A (hospital) and B (doctors.) That’s true. But here’s what Tim Taylor writes about that:

I do not have a fully convincing answer here. It’s true that the government pays a little more for Medicare Part C [that’s the name for Medicare Advantage], on average, than for Parts A and B, but it’s only about $300 per person per year, so that’s unlikely to be the main driver. My guess is that big insurance companies are better at managing health care costs, and perhaps no worse at managing paperwork and administrative costs. After all, the insurance companies are paid a flat amount per patient, rather than being reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis like traditional Medicare A and B. One can, of course, raise concerns about just how private insurance might seek to control health care costs. But again, the key point is that the elderly are increasingly showing by their actions that they prefer the Medicare Advantage plans, funded by the federal government, but run by private insurance companies.

$300 per person is way less than I had thought. It’s close to rounding error.



Source link

Tags: AdvantageMedicareTaylorTimothy
ShareTweetShareShare
Previous Post

Medical Properties Trust: Your Second Chance At Buying A 7.8% Yield

Next Post

UK government considers rent caps to protect social housing tenants

Related Posts

America’s previous is prologue — even for Trump

America’s previous is prologue — even for Trump

by Index Investing News
May 9, 2025
0

This text is an on-site model of our Swamp Notes publication. Premium subscribers can join right here to get the...

How Berkshire has modified

How Berkshire has modified

by Index Investing News
May 9, 2025
0

This text is an on-site model of our Unhedged publication. Premium subscribers can join right here to get the publication...

A brand new neoliberalism? – Econlib

A brand new neoliberalism? – Econlib

by Index Investing News
May 9, 2025
0

Among the many smarter center-left pundits, we're seeing indicators of what could be referred to as a revival of neoliberalism....

Donald Trump and Friedrich Merz comply with ‘shortly settle’ US-Germany commerce disputes

Donald Trump and Friedrich Merz comply with ‘shortly settle’ US-Germany commerce disputes

by Index Investing News
May 8, 2025
0

Authorized and commerce specialists have questioned whether or not the US-UK deal complies with World Commerce Group guidelines. Ignacio García...

Fuel Shortages: Cutsinger’s Answer – Econlib

Fuel Shortages: Cutsinger’s Answer – Econlib

by Index Investing News
May 9, 2025
0

Query: Suppose the market worth of gasoline is $5.00 per gallon. Politicians, responding to their constituents who consider that such...

Next Post
UK government considers rent caps to protect social housing tenants

UK government considers rent caps to protect social housing tenants

Britain Will ‘Survive But Suffer’ Under Liz Truss Leadership, Pundits Say

Britain Will 'Survive But Suffer' Under Liz Truss Leadership, Pundits Say

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

RECOMMENDED

Biden, McCarthy reach tentative U.S. debt ceiling deal, with Congress vote to come

Biden, McCarthy reach tentative U.S. debt ceiling deal, with Congress vote to come

May 28, 2023
SA banks accused of systemic discrimination – the ongoing battle for justice

SA banks accused of systemic discrimination – the ongoing battle for justice

September 7, 2023
Paul Haggis denies sexual assault declare in Italian courtroom look

Paul Haggis denies sexual assault declare in Italian courtroom look

June 22, 2022
Everton were rinsed by Andre Gomes

Everton were rinsed by Andre Gomes

October 5, 2022
Prime Federal Reserve official would again extra aggressive rate of interest cuts if US information worsen

Prime Federal Reserve official would again extra aggressive rate of interest cuts if US information worsen

September 21, 2024
Emily Bett Rickards in Wrestling Film ‘Queen of the Ring’ Full Trailer

Emily Bett Rickards in Wrestling Film ‘Queen of the Ring’ Full Trailer

January 17, 2025
Striking actors and writers say they’re determined

Striking actors and writers say they’re determined

July 18, 2023
Live match preview – PSG Women vs Chelsea Women 20.10.2022

Live match preview – PSG Women vs Chelsea Women 20.10.2022

October 20, 2022
Index Investing News

Get the latest news and follow the coverage of Investing, World News, Stocks, Market Analysis, Business & Financial News, and more from the top trusted sources.

  • 1717575246.7
  • Browse the latest news about investing and more
  • Contact us
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • DMCA
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • xtw18387b488

Copyright © 2022 - Index Investing News.
Index Investing News is not responsible for the content of external sites.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World
  • Investing
  • Financial
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Stocks
  • Crypto
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion

Copyright © 2022 - Index Investing News.
Index Investing News is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In