America's Health Insurance Plans says the extra services its members provide for Medicare beneficiaries through the Medicare Advantage program really do improve patients' health.
President Obama and other Democrats argued during the recent health reform summit in Washington that the Medicare Advantage program – which gives private carriers a chance to offer alternatives to the basic Medicare plan, rather than Medicare supplement insurance products that simply fill in the many the gaps in Medicare coverage – costs more than the traditional Medicare plan without doing much to improve participants' health. Medicare Advantage plans usually offer lower deductibles, extra coverage for preventive care services and care coordination in exchange for members agreeing to use in-network care providers.
The Obama administration has been pushing for a shift back toward traditional Medicare – which imposes relatively high deductible requirements on enrollees who do not pay extra for Medicare supplement insurance – while supporting requirements that plans offered to working-age patients through a proposed health insurance exchange system provide richer benefits, with fewer gaps than many individual health insurance policies now leave in coverage.
AHIP, Washington, has responded to the Democrats' allegations about Medicare Advantage plans with a "fact check" report full of statistics suggesting that comprehensive Medicare Advantage can help participants live longer, more comfortable lives than the less comprehensive traditional Medicare plans do.
AHIP analysts originally published the statistics in October 2009. They drew on 2006 California and Nevada hospital admissions data compiled by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
After adjusting for factors such as age, sex, and medical condition, the analysts found that Medicare Advantage plan enrollees in California spend 30% fewer days in the hospital than patients in traditional Medicare plans do.
