Bipartisan Lawmakers Aim to Fix Medicare Advantage

Medicare Advantage has serious problems, according to some bipartisan lawmakers who aim to improve, not dismantle, the wildly popular alternative to traditional Medicare coverage. House members from both parties expressed frustration about the Advantage program, also called Medicare C, in a July 22 hearing of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee. They decried what they saw as the unfulfilled promise of a program intended to provide holistic care but which has become better known for prior authorization denials, payment delays, and runaway costs. “We’re spending $5 trillion as a country,” said Subcommittee Chairman Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). “It seems like we’re getting sicker, and we’re spending a lot more money.”...