Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare Advantage Paying For A New Air Conditioner? Plans Starting To Embrace Flexibility In Offered Benefits
Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Plans Tout Pest Control, Acupuncture Among New Benefits
Medicare Advantage plans this year were slow to take advantage of new flexibility to offer different kinds of supplemental benefits, but some are making up for lost time. This week, several health plans advertised benefits for seniors that go well beyond the traditional gym membership or prescription eyeglasses. In 2020, some Advantage plans will be paying for seniors' rides to the grocery store or church, a new air conditioner or and even in-home pest control. Others are reducing co-payments for medications to treat chronic conditions, such as diabetes. (Livingston, 10/4)
The Advocate: Pest Control, Service Dog's Food -- Host Of New Benefits Await Medicare Advantage Customers
Medicare Advantage customers will soon be able to choose from new insurance benefits that go well beyond the usual coverage of doctor visits and other care in an effort to improve their health and prevent costly medical problems. Pest control, food for a service dog, pharmacy staples such as aspirin and toothpaste, in-home personal care to help with dressing and bathing, acupuncture and therapeutic massage treatments, sessions with nutritionists and assistive devices such as shower stools are among the new supplemental health benefits that privately run versions of the government’s Medicare program could be offering starting in 2020. Enrollment for plans runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. (Boone, 10/6)
In other news from CMS —
Modern Healthcare: Therapists Look To CMS For Aid As SNFs Restructure
Associations representing therapists have urged the CMS to intervene as skilled-nursing facilities lay off and cut the pay of thousands of therapists nationwide in response to the new patient-driven payment model. The CMS scrapped the resource-utilization group model, which reimbursed SNFs according to the number of therapy hours and encouraged potentially unnecessary therapy services, the agency said, and replaced it with PDPM on Oct. 1. (Kacik, 10/4)
