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To all the specialists here, have you guys noticed that as Medicare Advantage penetration increases, clinical volume drops and no shows increase?
It's usually the lower socioeconomic segment of the Medicare population that get tricked into selecting a MA plan due to the low premiums, but they don't realize how much of the cost is shifted onto them. They usually have $50 copays for each specialist visit, and they have a sizable coinsurance on all non-preventative testing, labs, imaging, procedures, etc. If they are hospitalized, they have large copays for the first 6 days that add up to thousands of dollars. If they need specialty drugs, the out of pocket costs are absolutely prohibitive.
In my area, there has definitely been a drop off in clinical volume after MA became prevalent. I have heard similar things from my friends in other areas with MA penetration.
Primary care seems to have been insulated from this due to the lower copays for PCP visits, free preventative care, and cheap non-specialty drugs.
It's usually the lower socioeconomic segment of the Medicare population that get tricked into selecting a MA plan due to the low premiums, but they don't realize how much of the cost is shifted onto them. They usually have $50 copays for each specialist visit, and they have a sizable coinsurance on all non-preventative testing, labs, imaging, procedures, etc. If they are hospitalized, they have large copays for the first 6 days that add up to thousands of dollars. If they need specialty drugs, the out of pocket costs are absolutely prohibitive.
In my area, there has definitely been a drop off in clinical volume after MA became prevalent. I have heard similar things from my friends in other areas with MA penetration.
Primary care seems to have been insulated from this due to the lower copays for PCP visits, free preventative care, and cheap non-specialty drugs.
