Medicare Panel Weighs Standard Benefits for Managed Care Plans

A congressional advisory panel is exploring whether Medicare’s popular managed care plans should be required to offer a standard set of core benefits. But an industry trade group opposes that prospect and instead wants to “standardize” and improve the way the federal government presents plan offerings to consumers.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission says standardizing some services offered by Medicare Advantage plans—and the costs that enrollees pay for them—could ease confusion for beneficiaries who now choose from an average of 39 different MA plans, all with varied premiums, provider networks, covered drugs, and other characteristics.

Along with making comparison ...