From Medicare Advantage insurers are eyeing cutbacks in 2025, to CVS Health picking up a digital MA broker, here are five key Medicare Advantage updates Becker's has reported since April 22.
- Splashy Medicare Advantage benefits such as sports equipment reimbursement may be a thing of the past in 2025. Facing tighter reimbursement rates from CMS and rising medical costs, payer executives signaled they will look to cut back on supplemental benefits.
- Across racial and ethnic groups, Medicare Advantage enrollees report broadly similar experiences but wide disparities in health outcomes, according to CMS' latest report on health equity in the program. Here are 10 numbers to know.
- CVS Health and Humana are expecting to exit Medicare Advantage markets in 2025. Aetna CEO Brian Kane told investors the company will prioritize "margin over membership" for the next year and will likely exit counties where it does not believe it can be profitable. Humana CFO Susan Diamond made similar remarks, telling investors the company expects to see a net membership decline as it exits markets in 2025.
- CVS Health acquired Medicare Advantage broker platform Hella Health. The online platform offers plans from Aetna, Cigna, Humana, UnitedHealthcare and other major insurers.
- New rules implemented by CMS will create a level playing field for community health plans in Medicare Advantage, Ceci Connolly, CEO of Alliance of Community Health Plans, told Becker's. In a final rule published April 4, CMS said it will cap broker payments beginning in 2025, eliminating a loophole that allowed brokers to collect additional compensation in add-on fees from plans.