Premiums will drop for private Medicare plans, Obama administration says

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

The nearly 12 million senior citizens enrolled in private Medicare health plans will see their monthly premiums drop by an average of 4 percent while benefits remain stable next year, the Obama administration officials announced Thursday. In addition, they said, premiums fell by an average of 7 percent this year, much higher than the 1 percent the government projected a year ago.

The plans, called Medicare Advantage, are offered by health insurance companies as an alternative to traditional, government fee-for-service Medicare.

Enrollment in the plans, which now cover about a quarter of all Medicare beneficiaries, is expected to grow by 10 percent in 2012, said Jonathan Blum, deputy administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Blum said health plans are also lowering co-payments and deductibles.

He attributed the premium drop to the agency’s strong negotiations with plans, as well as to the companies’ continuing desire to serve the market.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/premiums-will-drop-for-private-medicare-plans-obama-administration-says/2011/09/15/gIQAVxW1VK_story.html

[Hoyt]

1. Assuming the private health plans aren't letting more people die unnecessarily -- this is good.

[boppers]

7. It's in their interest, financially, to keep them just alive *enough* to sign a check.

So, yeah, not death, but I think you get my drift.

[madfloridian]

2. Premiums of two companies most certainly did NOT fall this year.

Humana and United Health.

"The nearly 12 million senior citizens enrolled in private Medicare health plans will see their monthly premiums drop by an average of 4 percent while benefits remain stable next year, the Obama administration officials announced Thursday. In addition, they said, premiums fell by an average of 7 percent this year, much higher than the 1 percent the government projected a year ago."

Humana went up by 100 a month.

[boppers]

8. "Humana went up by 100 a month."...

$100 dollars a month overall, so $12,000 total for the year?
...or $100 every month, so first month was $100, second month was $200...?

According to http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-15/Medicare-health-care-law-premiums/50420430/1

..their *costs* have been dropping, but that's not premium payments.

[madfloridian]

11. Humana raised their price 100 a month.

The county switched to another plan instead of staying with their Medicare Advantage. The county told me that when I asked. They provide retiree insurance, but the cost is still high. Plus the Medicare Advantage plans apparently get the 112 dollars that retirees pay each month out of their Soc. Sec.

[lbrtbell]

13. My mother's rates are going up, too

I don't know where the hell this administration is getting its figures, but they sure aren't based in reality.

[jkappy]

17. Co-pays Doubled and Tripled on Most Plans

While my premiums and others i checked either remained the same or went up.

The co-pay plot works effectively to reduce costs to Medicare... but the results have been disastrous to elderly health according to surveys i've looked at. i know that with a 45.00 co-pay, i think twice three times before calling for any appointment.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. I hate the word private

[jtuck004]

4. "...the companies’ continuing desire to serve the market".

:rofl:

[Art_from_Ark]

5. It's funny

in an Orwellian sort of way

[jtuck004]

6. That's what I was thinking. The idea that an insurance company

does their thing in service, for the good of mankind as it were, is a concept that is hard for me to grasp.

[Lugnut]

9. Baloney!

My premium went up from $130.00 to $161.00 in January. I'm not looking forward to what's coming in Jan. 2012.

[2Design]

10. bait and switch and insurance companies are in it for profit not for people

[webDude]

12. In other news, America wants to slap the shit out of Onama Admin for ...

...rolling over for it's Insurance Masters and at the same time screwing us all.

[madfloridian]

14. That's a bunch of hooey.

Jonathan Blum does not seem to know what he is talking about.

The Medicare Advantage plans are the privatization of Medicare, ongoing. The mailings are enough to drive seniors insane trying to figure them out. Many think they are real Medicare and that they MUST change.

The premiums did not go down this year. I would like to know his source....is it the heads of the insurance companies?

[Schema Thing]

15. Premiums went down.

deal with it.

[madfloridian]

16. No, they did not go down.

That deal with it remark really did it.