You may have heard a few depressing predictions that the Medicare Advantage Plans from private insurers would soon either reduce coverage benefits, or raise premiums. So far, nothing could be farther from the truth. The Obama administration has said that nearly 12 million of the beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans will see their monthly premiums drop by an average of four percent next year, but the benefits will stay the same.

About one quarter of all Medicare beneficiaries are now enrolled in Advantage Plans according to the Deputy Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Jonathan Blum. He expects enrollment to increase by 10 percent next year because these plans are also cutting the out-of-pocket expense that beneficiaries have. The plans will lower both co-payments and deductibles.

To give you an idea of what price range we’re talking about, the average Medicare Advantage monthly premium is around $39 this year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The economic downturn, recession, or whatever you want to call it has actually driven the cost of coverage downward. Read the rest of this entry »