Medicare Advantage plans may cover health -related elements, such as pet food

some Medical care feature Registered plans offer the amazing additional benefits to enhance their health, although a new report indicates that these benefits have been extended to include direct -effect expenses – such as golf equipment, pet supply and more.

Report in Manhattan Institute City Magazine It is noted that the Medicare feature, which was developed as a means to make Medicare more costly effective by making private insurance companies the management of health coverage for registrants, has witnessed the expansion of its additional benefits over time.

The program witnessed fixed registration gains and wider savings in mid -2010 by removing expensive procedures unnecessarily and using these funds to provide more premiums at reasonable prices and reduce costs outside the pocket. The supplementary benefits of Medicare Advantage initially were initially limited to additional benefits such as dental plans and vision that were related to health.

Congress enacts changes to Medicare’s feature plans through the 2018 Budget Budget Law, which expanded to allow them to apply Complementary benefits He had a “reasonable expectation to improve or preserve health or comprehensive function” for registrants who deal with chronic diseases.

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While the complementary benefits were still required to be associated with health or hospitals, the definition of numbers allows the use of these benefits Expenses like groceryIn addition to sports and social activities that can provide a less direct boost to the health of the registered.

The special benefits of Medicare Advantage are different according to the provider, but the city magazine report indicated that some of them offer vegetables in Golf courses Ski, as well as food and supplies for pets pass, hunting licenses and entry fees for social clubs.

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The eligibility to obtain the special supplementary benefits of chronic patients (SSBCI), as well as the benefits, have grown, as the majority of beneficiaries of medical care have chronic medical conditions, while the plan’s payments have increased.

The coding has also become more complicated, and the growing enrollment by the relatively younger registered, has been created dynamic as the Medical Care Consultative Committee noted that it is “exaggerated for beneficiaries who have very low costs, and its initial performance for beneficiaries who have very high costs.”

This led to Medicare payments Medicare feature plans It increases from 112 % to 120 % of the estimated costs of the program for direct payment of medical services for beneficiaries from 2015 to 2024. In addition, the report indicated that excessive payments to plans increased from $ 18 billion to $ 77 billion every year, which is partly attributed to the extended additional benefits.

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“The Medicare Advantage feature was a substitute for providing costs for traditional medical care. But the extra payments of the plans have left taxpayers on the hook for an additional trillion dollars over the next decade,” wrote his colleague Chris Bob at the Manhattan Institute.

The report indicated that the idea of ​​cutting excess payments to Medicare Advantage has received them Supporting the two parties in Congress Discounts in spending can be provided in the Republican tax reduction package in Congress to compensate for some of the tax revenues lost under the proposal.

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“If the Republicans want to make a real degree in Budget – ignoring democratic plans to redirect savings to expand other social programs – they should move to curb payments and use savings to reduce the burden on taxpayers, “Bob added.