Medicare Interactive

These sections review Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage as ways to receive Medicare benefits, and discuss how to change coverage.

 Beware Medicare Advantage Plans

An increasing number of seniors are choosing to get their Medicare benefits through Medicare Advantage plans. But do they understand what they’re signing up for?

 Medicare Advantage Plans Often Deny Needed Care, Federal Report Finds

Investigators urged increased oversight of the program, saying that insurers deny tens of thousands of authorization requests annually.

 Medicare Advantage quality ratings plunge as government resets to pre-pandemic standards

Federal officials significantly reduced the quality scores of next year’s Medicare Advantage plans, a move that was widely expected but will still affect millions of older adults and people with disabilities who have migrated to the growing program.

 Medicare Cracks Down on Deceptive Advertising, Service Denials by Privately-Run Plans

Rule comes after criticism that Medicare Advantage plans were running misleading ads.

 Medicare’s Private Option Is Gaining Popularity, and Critics

As more Americans sign up for Medicare Advantage, detractors worry that it’s helping private insurers more than patients.

 The Great Big Medicare Rip-Off

The government is leaving billions of dollars on the table. Here’s how to fix it.

 The Medicare disadvantage

How private insurers are gaming the Medicare system and committing fraud. Medicare Advantage, the private-sector arm for elderly care, is fast becoming the new battlefront in the fight against health care fraud in the U.S. Here’s why, and what fraud examiners think should be done.

 What Is a Medicare Advantage Plan, and Should You Sign Up for One?

The majority of Medicare Advantage plans are HMOs, which have a restricted network of doctors, hospitals and health providers, and offer less flexibility than PPO plans, which offer access to out-of-network providers at higher costs.

 What’s Happening with Medicare Advantage and Why it Matters

Medicare Advantage stands today as a more effective and stable program than when it was born. It is a powerful means for Medicare patients to get more value out of their spending and to maximize benefits. Moving forward, the government’s regulatory relationship with the program will need to ensure that as more people enroll, it doesn’t result in more consumers, or the government itself, being taken advantage of.

As Seniors Get Sicker, They're More Likely To Drop Medicare Advantage Plans

Boosters say that privately-run Medicare Advantage plans, which enroll about one-third of all people eligible for Medicare, offer good value. They strive to keep patients healthy by coordinating their medical care through cost-conscious networks of doctors and hospitals. But some critics argue the plans can prove risky for seniors in poor or declining health, or those like Shipotow who need to see specialists, because they often face hurdles getting access.

Medicare Advantage Plans Found to Improperly Deny Many Claims

Medicare Advantage plans, the popular private-insurance alternative to the traditional Medicare program, have been improperly denying many medical claims to patients and physicians alike, federal investigators say in a new report.

Medicare Advantage's cost to taxpayers has soared in recent years, research finds

Switching seniors to Medicare Advantage plans has cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars more than keeping them in original Medicare, a cost that has exploded since 2018 and is likely to rise even higher, new research has found.

Medicare is being privatized right before our eyes

The enormous success of Medicare Advantage — and the potential risks — explained.

Pitfalls of Medicare Advantage Plans

Still, while many offer low premiums—sometimes as low as $0 per month—the devil is in the details. You will find that many plans unexpectedly won't cover certain expenses when you get sick—resulting in unforeseen out-of-pocket costs for you—and what they pay can differ depending upon your overall health.

Study: ‘Big Differences’ Between Medicare Advantage And Traditional Medicare But Seniors Like Both

Medicare Advantage is better about coaxing seniors to get preventive healthcare while traditional Medicare lands its beneficiaries in higher quality hospitals, an analysis of more than 60 studies shows.

Why Medicare Advantage Plans Are Bad

To be clear, Medicare Advantage plans are not bad in every situation. However, they are certainly not a good fit for everyone. We are here to clarify why these seemingly too-good-to-be-true plans have a less-than-stellar reputation.

‘The Cash Monster Was Insatiable’: How Insurers Exploited Medicare for Billions

As a result, a program devised to help lower health care spending has instead become substantially more costly than the traditional government program it was meant to improve.