`A group that's been tough on Medicare since 1981 says Congress could cut as much as $830 billion in Medicare Advantage spending over 10 years.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget included four budget ideas that might generate those savings in an analysis of the options Congress might have to pay for new benefits programs:
- Adjusting Medicare Advantage payments to reflect the idea that doctors and hospitals might be trying to make patients look sicker then they are: ($45 billion to $355 billion in projected saving)
- Realigning the current program bidding process to make issuers compete harder based on price: (55 billion to $230 billion.)
- Adjusting Medicare Advantage risk adjustment payments: ($50 billion to 80 billion)
- Cutting excess Medicare Advantage plan quality bonus payments: ($30 billion to $165 billion)
The Medicare Advantage program gives private carriers a chance to sell plans that serve as an alternative to traditional Medicare coverage.
The program is now spending about $750 billion per year. About half of the cash comes from enrollee premiums and half comes from cash the Medicare program provides. The Medicare program payments are based on the amounts Medicare program managers think they might have spent on the enrollees if the enrollees were using traditional Medicare Part A hospitalization benefits and Medicare Part B outpatient and physician services benefits.
Congress now is debating a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion social welfare programs bill.
One question is how Congress will come up with the tax increases and spending cuts needed to pay for the social welfare program proposals, such as provisions that could add dental, vision and hearing coverage of the traditional Medicare program.
The federal budget committee committee says Congress could get a large fraction of the spending cuts by pruning Medicare Advantage program costs.
The committee has drawn fire in the past.
