A healthcare economist is proposing a hybrid payment model for Medicare, allowing managed care or fee-for-service payments, depending on the market, according to a report by Kaiser Health News.
Austin Frakt at Boston University School of Public Health cited an analysis funded by the American Enterprise Institute showing the Medicare program could save 8 percent, or about $50 billion a year under the proposed model.
The model would allow both the Medicare fee-for-service system and Medicare Advantage managed care plans to operate in a competitive pricing system. Both types of plans would offer bids for a standardized set of benefits and the government would pay all plans based on the lowest of these cost estimates.
Medicare Advantage plans can achieve lower costs in some markets, while fee-for-service can in others. Payments would be pegged to whatever plan type has the lowest cost in each local market.
Read the Kaiser Health News report on Medicare payments.
Read other coverage about Medicare payments.
- CMS and Board of Trustees Releases Sobering Report on Medicare Finances
- If Medicare Was the Only Payor, Hospitals Would Have to Cut Costs by 14%
- AMA Asks CMS to Postpone 2011 Medicare Fee Rule
Austin Frakt at Boston University School of Public Health cited an analysis funded by the American Enterprise Institute showing the Medicare program could save 8 percent, or about $50 billion a year under the proposed model.
The model would allow both the Medicare fee-for-service system and Medicare Advantage managed care plans to operate in a competitive pricing system. Both types of plans would offer bids for a standardized set of benefits and the government would pay all plans based on the lowest of these cost estimates.
Medicare Advantage plans can achieve lower costs in some markets, while fee-for-service can in others. Payments would be pegged to whatever plan type has the lowest cost in each local market.
Read the Kaiser Health News report on Medicare payments.
Read other coverage about Medicare payments.
- CMS and Board of Trustees Releases Sobering Report on Medicare Finances
- If Medicare Was the Only Payor, Hospitals Would Have to Cut Costs by 14%
- AMA Asks CMS to Postpone 2011 Medicare Fee Rule