In a letter to the House of Representatives, the American Hospital Association laid out its recommendations for improvements that can be made to the Medicare Advantage program.
Listed below is a brief rundown of the organization's six recommendations for the managed care option available to all Medicare beneficiaries at an additional cost.
- Continued access to Special Needs Plans, which are tailored to beneficiaries with specific needs, is an important goal for the AHA.
- Plan flexibility that offers enrollees a wider range of options. While standard plans are meant to avoid discrimination and offer equal care to all patients, tailoring plans to patient needs is important for improved care.
- Increased access to telehealth will increase convenience for patients and give them timely and effective care.
- Inclusion of non-medical services is important, as access to stable housing and employment is often as big a factor to a patient's health as their healthcare access.
- Inclusion of social factors beyond socioeconomic status in the Hierarchical Condition Categories in the risk-adjustment model, as more research reveals that social factors such as gender, community context and racial demographic impact patient outcomes.
- Hospice benefits for Medicare Advantage enrollees.
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