Fix Health Care Policy

A new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows that a demonstration program created by the Obama Administration in Medicare Advantage (MA) is primarily designed to “demonstrate” how to hide politically unpopular parts of Obamacare.

The Quality Bonus Payment demonstration program will take place from 2012 to 2014 and differs substantially from the bonus program described in Obamacare. In the original statute, high-performing plans (those rated 4 and above on a five-star scale) would receive bonus payments as an incentive to improve quality. In the current demonstration program, bonus payments are awarded to plans rated 3 and above, essentially rating almost all plans “above average” and giving them bonus payments. The additional funding offsets Obamacare’s $145 billion in cuts to the popular MA program.

As Heritage has warned before, Obamacare’s cuts to MA would severely reduce the quality of the program and force enrollees back into traditional Medicare. Writing for Heritage, health care experts Jim Capretta and Robert Book explain, “Phased in between 2012 and 2017, the MA cuts will substantially restrict the ability of Medicare beneficiaries to choose the health plans that best meet their needs and will result in substantial reductions in coverage for many millions of seniors and disabled Americans.” Medicare’s Office of the Actuary predicts a 50 percent drop in enrollment by 2017.

(Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: GAO, Medicare Advantage, ObamaCare, quality bonus payment demonstration program, unpopular law