Health Plan Alliance Announces Formation of Consortia to Consider New Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefits for 2020 Plans
Health Plan Alliance
12/03/2018
IRVING, Texas, December 3, 2018 --- The Health Plan Alliance (Alliance), in collaboration with Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting and the Wakely Consulting Group, has formed the Alliance Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefits Consortia. The Consortia will help evaluate the new supplemental benefit flexibilities and consider incorporating them into the 2020 Medicare Advantage (MA) plans offered by more than 20 Alliance members.
The Health Plan Alliance supports 47 regional health plans in non-competing markets that work with one another and their provider network to improve managed care in their communities. “The Alliance Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefits Consortia represents a new way for us to help our health plan members deliver high quality MA options in the communities they serve,” said Joe Lastinger, Health Plan Alliance president. “We’re pleased that so many of our members chose to support the Consortia and look forward to seeing these plans lead the way in today’s increasingly competitive MA market.”
The MA program is rapidly growing – enrollment now tops 20 million and it is projected to reach 30 million enrollees by 2025. In an effort to offer greater value for MA plan members, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently began permitting health plans to offer a wide range of non-medical benefits, such as transportation and in-home assistance, and benefits specific to people with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension. The Consortia will assist Alliance members in performing the financial and operational due diligence necessary to select the right MA supplemental benefits for their 2020 plans.
“Whether a large or small plan, it takes roughly the same level effort to determine which benefits are best for the MA beneficiaries served. By pooling resources and learning from each other, Alliance members will be well prepared to offer the right benefits for individuals in their communities,” said Mike Adelberg, principal at Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting and a former senior MA regulator for the federal government. “This is more than a financial exercise. A health plan should not offer a benefit unless its customer service team can explain it, its care management team can integrate it, and its operations team can deliver it consistently to all who qualify.”
Media contact:
Nicole Fultz
Director, CX and Communications
972-830-8691
nicole.fultz@healthplanalliance.org