Some lefty on a non-editorial-content financial-advice web site called Bankrate has asked readers to tell them why they think public Part C Medicare Advantage will survive the cuts being made to it by the Obama administration under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Or not! Apparently he only wants certain kinds of answers to that question so here is an answer Bankrate will not post on its comments section for some reason:
"Public Part C Medicare Advantage health plans are a much better supplement to Original Democratic-Party/LBJ/50s-vintage Medicare than private Medigap supplements. They are better because all public Part C Medicare Advantage health plans include an annual out of pocket (OOP) spending limit and most private Medigap supplements do not. In some states -- such as Massachusetts where I live -- you cannot even get a private Medigap supplement with an OOP spending cap. Capping OOP spending is why you buy insurance after all.
"There are many other advantages when you look at Part C plan by Part C plan but this OOP spending limit advantage is universal.
"It is clear that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's moving of the capitation fee back to parity with fee for service (FFS) Medicare spending will increase that OOP limit closer to its legal maximum, reduce the number of public Part C plans available, increase co-pays and deductibles, restrict networks further, and increase the monthly premium of the popular public Part C Medicare Advantage health plans. That is clear because it has already happened over the last three years and the PPACA cuts are only partially implemented.
"(That being said, I support parity. It is only fair to the wealthy and upper-income seniors on FFS Medicare that can afford private Medigap policies. The inner-city and rural poor for whom the higher Medicare Advantage payments were designed -- and who get this help disproportionately -- can go back to being on Medicaid.)
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