Readings and Listening To Consider - 9/20/22

Books and Articles worth a Review…

 Making Comparisons – In a recent article from American Journal of Managed Care [2022;28(12)] the   authors[1] describe how Medicare Advantage is becoming the dominant form of Medicare coverage throughout the USA but, that “meaningful and accurate comparison with traditional fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare” is often not available to both beneficiaries and policy makers. The authors call for an improvement in the “transparency of programmatic costs and benefits to promote beneficiary choice.” The need for the comparisons is clear. Medicare came about nearly 50 years ago in 1965 as an entitlement benefit for the elderly. The articles notes that at the time of Medicare’s passage by Congress the average life expectancy was 70.2 years. Now, it is 78.7 years with more than 64 million Americans receiving benefits. But, rather than a simple Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) program, there is now a more value-based care delivery option, or Medicare Advantage (MA) designed to foster and support preventive services as a focus of the program. I can personally speak to the dilemma of many elder Americans in trying to understand the variable framework, options and approach to services not only with traditional Medicare but also the various Medicare Advantage options. On the whole, the authors raise a very important point – one that should be highlighted by health care professionals across the board.

A Repeat Thought – If you haven’t yet purchased your copy of Ray Dalio’s The Changing World Order, it is a MUST READ for all of us!! If you are traveling, the Audible version is also very good although having the book allows you to review the PDFs and graphics that are part of his thesis.

 

[1] Brian J. Miller, MD, MBA, MPH, Stephen T. Parente, PhD, MPH, MS, Gail R. Wilensky, PhD