The Latest Breaking News from Advantage

WASHINGTON — The insurance industry and Republicans are using the debt ceiling fight and President Joe Biden’s vows not to cut Medicare to fend off changes to private Medicare Advantage plans, which are popular among the public but have faced criticism about their costs to the government.

Medicare Advantage, a Medicare alternative primarily run by private health insurers, becomes a battleground in the war over federal spending.

In 2018, responding to a wave of overdose deaths, Congress passed legislation requiring Medicare to pay for services at opioid treatment programs for the first time.

A new benefit aimed at helping treat opioid use disorder can be hard to access for those who use Medicare Advantage plans, advocates say.

Some Medicare Advantage plans failed to produce any records to justify their payments, government records show

In April 2016, government auditors asked a Blue Cross Medicare Advantage health plan in Minnesota to turn over medical records of patients treated by a podiatry practice whose owner had been indicted for fraud.

Health insurers that issue Medicare Advantage plans have repeatedly tried to sidestep regulations, audits find

A KHN investigation found when some Medicare Advantage plans got a rare federal audit, they couldn't produce billing records for care they said they'd provided. Some blamed fire, flood — or doctors.

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