NEWS UN-COVERED: health insurer rate hikes and Medicare Advantage ads in 2024
I’ve seen a number of recent articles drawing attention to two issues that regular readers of HEALTHCARE un-covered know all about: the annual (and deeply dishonest) Medicare Advantage advertising blitz and the upcoming rate hike planned by big health insurers in 2024.
It’s gratifying to see these important issues start to gain more coverage. I hope that as the mainstream media begins to shine light on these topics, consumers will begin to turn away from Medicare Advantage and that bigger businesses and government agencies with negotiating power will do all they can to fight the enormous rate hikes coming in 2024.
Medicare Advantage advertisements
The AARP wrote this terrific blog post explaining the recent KFF analysis of Medicare Advantage ads, the government’s actions to crack down on misleading aspects of the advertisements, the role of celebrity endorsements, rising consumer complaints, and what can be done going forward.
Washington, DC insider publication Axios covered the federal government’s crackdown here, and Fierce Healthcare focused on the impact on low-income seniors here.
2024 rate hike
Reuters covered the coming rate hikes by focusing on the impact on U.S. employers here.
CNBC explained how big health insurers will impact the overall rate of inflation across the economy, even while other inflation drivers are retreating.
The Advisory Board described upcoming negotiations between insurers and employers as a “bloodbath” here.
Meanwhile, Axios discussed how employers will be pushing back on insurers proposed rate increases, partly by using new transparency data required by the federal government.
"The AARP wrote this terrific blog post explaining the recent KFF analysis of Medicare Advantage ads, the government’s actions to crack down on misleading aspects of the advertisements, the role of celebrity endorsements, rising consumer complaints, and what can be done going forward." Call me cynical, but in my opinion, AARP only wrote that piece to protect the interest of their "partners" UnitedHealth Group, who pays them millions each year to endorse and sell their Medicare plans!