| ■ Quality Lacking in Private Medicare Plans: Study | 2010.04.30 |
| Many American seniors are enrolled in Medicare Advantage insurance plans that offer only fair to medium quality, says a new study. The study by consulting firm Avalere Health found that 47 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are in plans that scored two or three stars out of five on a federal government rating system for consumers, the Associated Press reported. Only 23 percent of seniors are enrolled in plans with four or five stars -- meaning very good to excellent quality, according to Avalere. "There is obviously a wide variance in performance," said company president Dan Mendelson, the AP reported. "These ratings are about to become much more important. When you start linking quality to payment, you can bet the plans are going to be very motivated to bring the scores up." Under the new health care law, insurance plans will be paid according to the quality of service they provide to clients. |