GOP Bill Seeks to Tilt Medicare Advantage Study Toward Insurers

Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee advanced a bill that would direct the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, MedPAC, to study Medicare Advantage spending in a way that favors insurers.

MedPAC, the nonpartisan adviser to Congress, estimated this year that Medicare pays about 14% more per enrollee, roughly $76 billion, to Medicare Advantage plans than it would under traditional Medicare.

The proposed change would shape the agency’s analysis toward outcomes more beneficial to insurers, a move critics say could reduce scrutiny of overpayments and affect taxpayer costs.