As Medicare Advantage plans face myriad challenges, including rising costs, negative media coverage, and increased lawmaker scrutiny, the health insurance industry is planning a major lobbying effort to boost support for the alternative to Traditional Medicare. With open enrollment beginning Oct. 15, the insurance industry hopes to avoid enrollment declines.

From the article:

The Medicare Advantage business is facing major challenges — government scrutiny is rising, CMS regulations and payments are tightening, the cost of care is rising and negative media coverage abounds.

In response, the health insurance industry is planning “a seven-figure lobbying blitz” in Washington D.C. to fight mounting headwinds and offer a more optimistic view of the benefits MA plans can provide to older adults.

“We’re going to be doing everything we can to make sure that policymakers across the political spectrum can be introduced to these seniors and hear their stories and learn firsthand how passionately Medicare Advantage beneficiaries feel about their coverage,” insurance industry trade group AHIP and its CEO, Mike Tuffin, told Politico on Aug. 13.

The lobbying campaign is not a new strategy for the industry, which most recently aired a Super Bowl ad in February with a simple message for lawmakers: “Don’t cut Medicare Advantage.”

The 30-second ad references some of the major challenges the MA market has faced this year, including reduced benchmark payments from CMS. CVS Health, Humana and Centene have said they will exit some markets in 2025 — and potentially reduce benefit offerings — to accommodate the changing reimbursement environment and rising costs.

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