SecureCare65

Why some Medicare Advantage plans will get skimpier and costlier Medicare Advantage plans may look less enticing to their 31 million beneficiaries next year.

2023: The Year Medicare Advantage Begins To Dominate Traditional Medicare With one in two seniors now enrolled in the privatized health plan alternative to traditional Medicare known as “Medicare Advantage,” look for growth to escalate in 2023 and beyond.

The downside to Medicare Advantage?

One big downside is that these insurers require “prior authorization,” or approval in advance, for many procedures, drugs or facilities.

“Your doctor or the facility says that you need more care” — in a hospital or nursing home, say — “but the plan says, ‘No, five days, or a week, two weeks, is fine,’” said David Lipschutz, the associate director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy. Then you must either forgo care or pay out of pocket.