In 2026, 55% of those with Parts A and B used Medicare Advantage. Program spending was about $1.21 trillion in 2025 and near $1.3 trillion in 2026, up from $666 billion a decade earlier.
Federal subsidies that have helped defray insurers' Medicare drug costs will disappear at the end of the year. Millions of beneficiaries could face higher premiums in 2027.
Thousands of people lost coverage over as little as $8 in delinquent payments. They didn't know their zero-dollar premiums had gone up and they owed money. Most now can't get coverage until 2027.
A coalition of 29 major health care players is coming together to simplify the prior authorization process for medical treatments, Mehmet Oz , the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said at Axios' Future of Health Summit Wednesday. The big picture: Last summer, several top health insurers voluntary pledged to streamline and improve the prior authorization process across all health insurance markets. Driving the news: "The payers, the insurance companies, have been playing ball. Guess who's not been playing ball until today? The providers," Oz told Axios' Caitlin Owens. - The new coalition includes insurers, hospitals and health records companies to streamline the process for reviewing medical procedures,…
Nationwide, hospitals and other providers are leaving private Medicare Advantage plans, putting thousands of seniors at risk of higher costs and of losing trusted doctors.
'that gap has real consequences'
What appeared to be a surge of grassroots support for higher Medicare Advantage payments was actually driven by a pro-industry group.
Federal officials have a plan that could curb billions of dollars in overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans. But will they follow through on it?
AI:The Trump administration is moving to crack down on the massive overbilling schemes embedded within Medicare Advantage plans, targeting the systematic "upcoding" used by private insurers to siphon billions in taxpayer dollars. While federal officials propose new curbs on these fraudulent overpayments, the actual enforcement mechanism remains uncertain, leaving a critical question of whether this regulatory strike will actually succeed or be neutralized by the same bureaucratic inertia that allows these corporate entities to exploit the system.Open