Medicare Advantage and Part D

Despite Late Surge, MA AEP Was Slower Than Expected Due to Timetable, Stability

From Medicare Advantage News - A variety of factors contributed to what several plans and consultants tell MAN was a generally slower than expected 2012 Medicare Advantage Annual Election Period (AEP). Despite apparently very heavy activity near the Dec. 7 end of the AEP, many plans are likely to have fallen short of their perhaps overly ambitious goals, although there are prominent exceptions. Some of the difficulties relate to the required earlier start — Oct. Read more

MarketPlace

Shop now for newsletters, books, webinars & more

Webinars

View our Upcoming and On-Demand webinars

AIS Blogs

Read blogs on current topics from our editors

UnitedHealth’s Deal to Buy XLHealth Is Said To Be High Priced, Mainly About Dual SNPs (with Chart: XLHealth’s Care…

From Medicare Advantage News - In the latest and perhaps most costly Medicare Advantage acquisition this year in terms of price per member, UnitedHealth Group on Nov. 22 unveiled an agreement to acquire XLHealth Corp. While the two companies did not disclose the price in the all-cash deal, Bloomberg reported that a source familiar with the transaction said it was about $2 billion, which would put the price per member at above $17,000. That would… Read more

MA PPOs Are Drawing Even With MA HMOs on Plan Quality, NCQA Finds

From Medicare Advantage News - Medicare Advantage PPOs are catching up with MA HMOs on quality, based on a new analysis by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). And NCQA President Peggy O’Kane, while acknowledging that the bonuses now attached to CMS’s star ratings have been a “huge motivator” for quality in all MA plans, says the PPOs’ catch-up with the tighter-network HMOs on quality results from “no magic — just hard work.” The findings… Read more

More Medicare Advantage & Part D Stories

Managed Medicare and Medicaid Data

On the Medicare Advantage & Part D Bookshelf

Strategies and Challenges for Marketing Medicare Advantage and Part D Plans

Impact of Health Reform on Medicare Advantage and Part D

Recent CMS Audit Reports

Medicare Advantage & Part D Blog

How to Make a Prediction Come True by Really Trying

By James Gutman - February 3, 2012

CMS might have done some creative thinking for its presentation of the Medicare Advantage 2012 Annual Election Period (AEP) results on Feb. 1. Back on Sept. 15, 2011, the agency had forecast, based on information it said was obtained from MA sponsors, that MA plan enrollment would climb 10% for...

Here We Go Again on MA Pay — and at a Bad Time

By James Gutman - January 27, 2012

The report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Jan. 26 on Medicare Advantage plan payment levels is a big problem for MA plans not only because of what it says but also when it comes. The report, requested by House Democrats, finds Medicare's methodology for paying MA organizations...

Wall Street Punishes Insurer for Deal That Would Improve It

By James Gutman - January 13, 2012

Only in the alternate universe that is Wall Street would something like this make sense. Medicare Advantage insurer Universal American Corp. announced Jan. 11 a planned acquisition of APS Healthcare, Inc. that figures to help it substantially in competing for the coming huge contracts for Medicare-...