As MAOs Consider Benefit Cuts, Risk-Bearing Providers Should Take Heed

  • May 02, 2024

    As Medicare Advantage and Part D sponsors prepare their bids for 2025 amid revenue challenges, benefit cuts and other changes that plans are contemplating to maintain margins will undoubtedly trickle down to Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and other entities that take risk in MA. As a result, risk-bearing providers should be asking tough questions of their plan partners and conducting internal analyses to understand where their revenue stands to be impacted, according to value-based care experts.   

    From the transition to v28 — the new version of the Part C CMS-Hierarchical Condition Categories (HCC) model that will make it harder for plans and providers to apply more codes for risk adjustment — to increased inpatient utilization, a -0.16% drop in MA plans’ base pay and other changes, risk-bearing providers are bracing for a “perfect storm” of events in MA that will require preparation, said Zach Davis, a Wakely actuary who helps ACOs manage insurance risk, during a LinkedIn Live session recorded on April 24.  

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  • Lauren Flynn Kelly

    Lauren has been covering health business issues since the early 2000s and specializes in in-depth reporting on Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid and Medicare Part D. She also possesses a deep understanding of the complex world of pharmacy benefit management, having written AIS Health’s Radar on Drug Benefits from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016. In addition to her role as managing editor of Radar on Medicare Advantage, she oversees AIS Health’s publications and manages the health editorial staff. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.

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