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POLICY TOPIC

Medicare Advantage

Resources, analysis, and news coverage on this issue, all in one place.

About This Issue

People who choose Medicare Advantage (MA) face additional hurdles during the initial enrollment and annual plan selection processes. The MA plan choice landscape is cluttered, complicated, and confusing. Other MA features, like prior authorization, narrow provider networks, and predatory plan marketing, can worsen decision-making and access problems.

It is also expensive. MA costs more, both overall and per enrollee, than Original Medicare. This drives up spending for the program, beneficiaries, and taxpayers; though little is known about how plans are using these dollars, or about overall plan quality. As MA enrollment grows, addressing its financing flaws and programmatic pitfalls becomes ever-more important. We support comprehensive reforms to ensure all beneficiaries can rely on their earned Medicare coverage.

On This Issue

Resources, News & Coverage

100 items

  1. Medicare Watch New Public Data on Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Shows Need for More Clarity
  2. Medicare Watch Final 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Rule Increases Plan Pay and Relaxes Marketing Restrictions
  3. Medicare Watch Medicare Advantage Payments Rising Again in 2027
  4. Medicare Watch The Annual Deadline to Make Certain Medicare Advantage Changes Is Fast Approaching
  5. Medicare Watch Congressional Report Details How MA Overpayments Drive Up Part B Premiums
  6. Medicare Watch CMS Proposes to Reduce Medicare Advantage Overpayment, Plans Still Profitable
  7. Comments Comments on the 2027 Advance Notice
  8. Medicare Watch AARP Examines Ways to Strengthen Original Medicare 
  9. Medicare Watch CMS Proposes Important Step to Combat Medicare Advantage Overpayment
  10. Medicare Watch Medicare Rights Urges CMS to Center Beneficiary Needs in MA and Part D
  11. Comments Comments on Proposed 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Policy Changes
  12. Medicare Watch Senate Report Exposes Medicare Advantage Gaming
  13. Medicare Watch Medicare Advantage Enrollees Have Until March 31 to Make Certain Coverage Changes
  14. Medicare Watch Analysis Flags Potential Medicare Advantage Access Issues for Mental Health Care
  15. Medicare Watch The Beneficiary Experience: The Costs of Medicare Advantage
  16. Positions and Publications Medicare Advantage Marketing, Brokers, and Agents 
  17. Positions and Publications Beneficiary Experiences With Medicare Advantage Marketing
  18. Positions and Publications Beneficiary Experiences with Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefits
  19. Medicare Watch Most Medicare Advantage Enrollees Sacrifice Access to Wide Network of Medicare Providers
  20. Medicare Watch Harm to Medicare Advantage Enrollees From Directory Errors and Inadequate Networks
  21. Yahoo Finance - Decoding Retirement How to Understand What’s in Your Medicare ANOC (opens in a new tab)
  22. Medicare Watch Final Rule and New Special Enrollment Period Will Aid Those Misled by Provider Directories
  23. Medicare Watch Important Medicare Plan Finder Improvements Planned This Fall, More Work Needed
  24. Medicare Watch Medicare Advantage Proliferation and the Cluttered Plan Landscape
  25. Medicare Watch More People Are Enrolling in Medicare Advantage at High Cost to Medicare and Taxpayers
  26. Positions and Publications Medicare Advantage Proliferation: Too Much of a Complicated Thing
  27. Medicare Watch Medicare Advantage Enrollees Need Better Information On Supplemental Benefits
  28. Health Affairs Clearer Choices: Why Medicare Advantage Enrollees Need Better Information On Supplemental Benefits (opens in a new tab)
  29. Medicare Watch Troubling Signs from Administration’s Weak Medicare Advantage Oversight
  30. Medicare Watch Medicare Advantage Costs and Growth Largely Unexamined 
  31. Medicare Watch Medicare Rights Center President Fred Riccardi Discusses Prior Authorization in Medicare Advantage  
  32. Comments Comments on the 2026 Advance Notice
  33. Medicare Watch Federal Agency Releases Health Care Consolidation Report
  34. Yahoo Finance Unhappy with your Medicare Advantage plan? Now’s the time to make a switch. (opens in a new tab)
  35. Medicare Watch Proposed Rule Would Improve Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization and Transparency
  36. Comments Comments on Proposed 2026 Medicare Advantage Part D Policy Changes
  37. Medicare Watch Medicare Rights Helpline Trends Report Highlights Beneficiary Challenges and Opportunities for Reform
  38. Press Release Medicare Rights Center Highlights Top Challenges for Medicare Beneficiaries in 2023 Trends Report 
  39. Medicare Watch 2025: A Year of Old Threats and New Opportunities
  40. Medicare Watch Amid Fall Open Enrollment, New Insights on the Medicare Advantage Landscape in 2025
  41. Medicare Watch Watchdog Estimates $7.5 Billion Medicare Advantage Overpayment from “Questionable” Health Risk Assessments
  42. Medicare Watch Medicare Advantage Offerings Stable as Overpayments Continue
  43. Medicare Watch Comparing Plans is Especially Important This Open Enrollment Season Due to Changes in Part D Protections and New Options
  44. Medicare Watch Medicare Advantage Pulling in Billions in Dubious Quality Bonuses
  45. Medicare Watch Annual Assessment and New Investigation Highlight High Medicare Advantage Overpayment
  46. Medicare Watch As Medicare Turns 59, We Celebrate the Program’s Successes and Its Future
  47. Comments Health Care Consolidation Request for Information
  48. Medicare Watch Medicare Rights Urges CMS to Increase Medicare Advantage Transparency and Accountability
  49. Medicare Watch Final Rules on Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Offer Improvements, but More Change is Needed
  50. Comments Medicare Rights Center Response to Medicare Advantage Data Request for Information
  51. Medicare Watch Medicare Rights Joins Advocates in Urging Medicare Advantage Reforms
  52. Letters Medicare Advantage 2025 Rate Announcement Sign-on Letter
  53. Medicare Watch Final Rule Limits Broker Compensation, Requires Important Plan Improvements
  54. Medicare Watch Medicare Advantage Payments to Remain on the Rise in 2025
  55. Medicare Watch Medicare Rights Responds to Proposed Payment Changes for Medicare Advantage Plans
  56. Comments Comments on the 2025 Advance Notice
  57. Medicare Watch Coverage Experiences Vary for Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage Enrollees
  58. Medicare Watch Proposed Rule Would Improve Clarity and Transparency in Medicare Advantage, Boost Access to Care
  59. Comments Comments on Proposed Changes to Medicare Advantage and Part D for 2025
  60. Medicare Watch Fall Open Enrollment Ends Tonight
  61. Medicare Watch Fall Open Enrollment Continues with Choices for Beneficiaries and Benefits for Plans
  62. Statements & Testimony Statement for the Record on Medicare Advantage Marketing and the Enrollee Experience
  63. Medicare Watch Senate Hearing Examines Medicare Advantage Marketing and Misinformation
  64. Tradoffs Medicare’s Open Enrollment Mess (opens in a new tab)
  65. Medicare Watch Focus Groups of Older Adults and People with Disabilities Say Medicare Advantage Marketing is Confusing and Overwhelming
  66. Medicare Watch Part D and Medicare Advantage Plans Stable for 2024
  67. Medicare Watch New Reports Examine the Impact of Medicare Advantage Advertising
  68. Medicare Watch New Survey Highlights Overwhelming, Confusing, and Misleading Medicare Plan Marketing
  69. Medicare Watch Medicare Advantage 101: The Rise of Quality Bonuses
  70. Medicare Watch <em>Medicare Advantage 101</em>: A Policy Series From the Medicare Rights Center
  71. Positions and Publications Comparing Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage
  72. Positions and Publications Medicare Advantage History: Legislative Milestones
  73. Positions and Publications The Beneficiary Experience with Medicare Advantage Enrollment and Access
  74. Positions and Publications Payments to Medicare Advantage: The Methodology
  75. Positions and Publications The Overpayment Cycle: Payments to Medicare Advantage
  76. Positions and Publications Promise and Pitfalls of Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs)
  77. Policy Series Medicare Advantage 101
  78. Roll Call Medicare Advantage Supplemental Health Plans Draw Scrutiny (opens in a new tab)
  79. Medicare Watch Medicare Advantage Plan Data Remains Inadequate
  80. Medicare Watch Senate Hearing Highlights Problems with Medicare Advantage Directories and Networks
  81. Statements & Testimony Statement for the Record on Inaccurate Medicare Advantage Provider Directories
  82. Medicare Watch Medicare Advantage Enrollment Increases to Cover Half of All Eligible Beneficiaries
  83. Fortune Prior authorization rules are stressful for Medicare Advantage customers—but changes are coming (opens in a new tab)
  84. Medicare Watch Final Rule Makes Important Changes to Medicare Advantage and Part D
  85. Medicare Watch CMS Finalizes 2024 Medicare Advantage Payment Policies
  86. Medicare Watch Medicare Rights Applauds CMS Efforts to Reduce Medicare Advantage Overpayments
  87. Medicare Watch New Campaign Urges Commonsense Medicare Advantage Reforms
  88. Medicare Watch Biden Administration Tackles Prior Authorization Again
  89. Comments Interoperability and Prior Authorization Proposed Rule
  90. Medicare Watch President’s Budget Outlines Policy and Spending Priorities
  91. Comments Comments on the 2024 Advance Notice
  92. Medicare Watch Urge CMS to Rein in Expensive Overpayments to Medicare Advantage Plans
  93. New York Times Brokers Get Lush Trips and Cash Perks to Sell Costly Medigap Plans (opens in a new tab)
  94. Positions and Publications Simplifying Medicare Advantage Enrollment
  95. Medicare Watch New Analysis Highlights Steps by the Biden-Harris Administration to Reduce Medicare Advantage Overpayment
  96. Medicare Watch CMS Proposes Policy and Payment Changes for Medicare Advantage and Part D Plans
  97. Comments Comments on Proposed Changes to Medicare Advantage and Part D for Contract Year 2024
  98. Medicare Watch Prior Authorization Data and Proposed Rule Reflect Need for Stronger Medicare Advantage Rules
  99. Medicare Watch Government Watchdog Shows Limited Data on Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefits
  100. Medicare Watch What Role Does Marketing Play in Medicare Decision-Making?

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