The study found that extra payments to Medicare Advantage plans will amount to an average of $1,138, or 13 percent over fee-for-service costs, for each of about 10 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the plans. The $11.4 billion in extra payments for 2009 represents a 34 percent increase over 2008 payments, which totaled $8.5 billion.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that bringing Medicare Advantage payments in line with traditional fee-for-service Medicare would save $157 billion over the next 10 years, according to the release.
Read the Commonwealth Fund’s release on the Medicare Advantage payment study.
