The U.S. government now pays Medicare Advantage (MA) plan — the private alternative to traditional Medicare plans at least 22% more per enrollee than it would cost to cover the same person under traditional Medicare. Insurance brokers can often earn higher commissions for selling MA plans, incentivizing their prevalence among seniors, regardless of whether they’re the best fit for individual health needs.

MA plans don’t perform better and in some cases are worse than traditional Medicare. They also don’t appear to provide enrollees with meaningful control over their coverage decisions. Instead, MA plans bombard enrollees with a complicated array of options so overwhelming that vast majority of people don’t even try to compare what’s available to them.

Most alarmingly, MA plans are creating more and more barriers to patient care, including difficult prior authorization requirements that can delay necessary medications and narrow physician networks – all while often failing to save money on care.

Patients deserve: 
• Transparent benefit disclosures that clearly outline what plans do and do not cover.
• Delinking broker commissions from MA plan sales.

Your voice matters, and your lawmakers need to hear from rheumatic disease patients like you. Join us in calling for increased transparency in MA plans today!