Medicare Enrollment Opens Amid Coverage Turbulence, Uncertainty

Medicare open enrollment for 2025 begins Tuesday with fewer private Medicare Advantage plans and “Part D” prescription drug plans to cover the growing number of beneficiaries enrolling in the program’s bulging managed care option.

The retrenchment in plan offerings reflects continued efforts by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to phase in a series of MA-plan payment cuts after years of reported overpayments . The situation was exacerbated when insurers that mispriced their coverage to gain market share paid more claims as seniors sought more medical care after the Covid-19 pandemic, said Duane Wright, a senior analyst at Bloomberg ...