September 29, 2025
Medicare Advantage: CMS’ Stable Message Eclipsed by Falling Enrollment Forecast, But A Wait and See Attitude Is Appropriate
While reports over the weekend about CMS’s Friday release of the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Plan (PDP) premium, deductible and other information for the 2026 plan year focused on the 2.6% projected cut…
September 26, 2025
Medicare Advantage RADV Audits in Legal Limbo, But Don’t Discount Its Resurrection [HUM, UNH, CVS, CNC, ELV, ALHC]
Medicare Advantage (MA) insurers [HUM, UNH, CVS, CNC, ELV, ALHC] received some positive legal news that for now neutralizes the concern of widespread Medicare audits and potential concomitant recoupments. However, yesterday’s federal district court ruling…
July 2, 2025
Medicare Advantage RADV Update: Tons More PY19 Audits, UNH Has the Most For Now
CMS’s addition last week of 300+ Medicare Advantage (MA) [UNH, HUM, CNC, ELV, CVS, ALHC] contracts to be audited for risk adjustment data verification (RADV) during plan year (PY) 2019 raises the risk of larger…
June 16, 2025
Medicare Advantage: Filling in RADV Blanks; HUM Has Most Contracts Targeted [HUM, UNH, CVS, ELV, CNC, ALHC]
Late Friday, CMS announced the latest list of Medicare Advantage (MA) contracts to be targeted for risk adjustment data verification (RADV) audits – this time for payment year (PY) 2019 – and its associated processes…
June 6, 2025
Thoughts on Medicare Savings Ideas in Reconciliation
Yesterday’s news reports that Senate Republicans are considering and discussing Medicare savings policies to add to the reconciliation bill for lowering the overall deficit and/or filling any potential hole from softening some of the House’s…
May 21, 2025
Medicare Advantage: Ramping Up RADV Audits Clearly a Threat, But Does It Head Off Other Risks? [HUM, UNH, CVS, ELV, ALHC]
CMS’s announcement late Wednesday to turn the dial up on its risk-adjustment data verification (RADV) audits of Medicare Advantage (MA) contracts with an eye toward the entire landscape raises legitimate fears of recouping sizable past…
April 7, 2025
[HUM, ALHC, UNH, CNC, AGL, PRVA]: MA’s 5%+ Increase Met Our Expectations, But Longer-Term Coding and Part D Questions Remain
The final CY26 Medicare Advantage (MA) rate announcement met our previously-published optimistic expectations for a comfortable mid-single-digit YoY benchmark rate increase for MA insurers [HUM, ALHC, UNH, CVS, ELV, CNC] with CMS finalizing a 5.06% increase, largely…
April 6, 2025
[HUM, ALHC, UNH] Final Medicare Advantage Tech Changes Reg: Most Proposals Dropped Without Explanation, Await CY26 Rate Notice
CMS’s final CY26 technical changes rule for Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D plans [HUM, ALHC, UNH, CVS, ELV, CNC] lived up to expectations of rolling back proposed restrictions in response to consumer complaints, but…
March 25, 2025
HUM, ALHC, UNH: Optimistic for Mid-Single Digit MA Rate Increase for CY26, Upcoding Remains a Longer-Term Issue
Anticipating CMS’s issuance of its final CY26 Medicare Advantage (MA) rate notice within the next two weeks (on or before Monday, April 7), we remain optimistic about near-term regulatory changes for MA insurers [HUM, ALHC,…
March 14, 2025
Oz Nomination: Moving towards Senate Confirmation, Medicare Advantage Comments Show Mixed View
Today’s Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing of Dr. Mehmet Oz as Trump’s CMS Administrator provided limited new insights into his approach to Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, pharmacy benefit management reforms, health savings account adoption, and healthcare…