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Rural Hospitals Suffer as Medicare Advantage Plans Prosper - American Hospital Association
Medicare Advantage plans are private healthcare insurance plans which replace “original government provided Medicare,” and which are increasing popular. The reason for that popularity is that, for little or no additional cost, Medicare Advantage plans often provide additional coverage for things “original Medicare” doesn’t cover, such as prescription drugs, hearing, and vision, among others. However, as private plans, Medicare Advantage is also profit-driven, which means restrictions for who can provide services, what types of services require preapproval, and the level of reimbursement provided to healthcare providers.
The rise in Medicare Advantage (MA) as an alternative to original Medicare has been particularly hard on smaller rural hospitals, because the profit-driven nature of MA plans causes financial issues for smaller healthcare providers. This takes the form of reimbursements which are less than the cost of care, additional administrative costs, and diminished access to quality healthcare. And this very informative article by the American Hospital Association discusses the dilemma faced, especially by smaller rural healthcare providers, and includes several suggested remedies. Click here to read more.