CMS official defends flat Medicare Advantage rate proposal for 2027

Trump administration signals there’s widespread desire to curb Medicare Advantage

Tiny pay raise and new risk adjustment rules for Medicare Advantage insurers signal Trump administration openness to go after abusive practices.

Medicare Rate Freeze Proposal Shocks Insurers

Investors betting on a Medicare Advantage windfall just got a jolt. Shares of major health insurers sank on Tuesday after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed 2027 payment rates for private Medicare plans that were far lower than Wall Street had penciled in, the Wall Street Journal reports....

CMS proposes excluding chart reviews from MA risk scoring in 2027 payment rule

The proposal would eliminate the financial motivation insurers have to mine their members’ charts for additional diagnoses. Regulators also proposed a flat rate update for 2027, prompting anger from insurers.

Pharma Pulse: Climate Risks to the Supply Chain

In today’s Pharma Pulse, extreme weather tests the resilience of community pharmacies, while CMS proposes a near-flat 0.09% update for Medicare Advantage and Part D payments in 2027.

Projected Medicare Advantage 2027 payment rate draws concern from plans and providers

CMS’s proposed Medicare Advantage (MA) 2027 payment rate would result in minimal overall growth for health plans, as risk adjustment revisions and new limits on chart reviews offset the projected baseline increase. Average payments to MA plans are anticipated to essentially stay flat, increasing by 0.09%, as described in the MA advance rate notice published this week. MA policy increasingly has grabbed headlines in conjunction with the program’s…

UnitedHealth leads $80 billion insurer rout on bleak Medicare Advantage proposal