Medicare Advantage plan in receivership
SunCoast Physicians Health Plan
SunCoast Physicians Health Plan is a new Medicare Advantage HMO that has been built on traditional medical values, when medicine was about caring for patients not managing them.
Liquidation Order Entered Against SunCoast Physicians Health Plan, Inc.
On Friday, August 10, 2007, SunCoast Physicians Health Plan, Inc. (“SunCoast”) was ordered into receivership for purposes of liquidation by the Second Judicial Circuit Court in Leon County, Florida. The Florida Department of Financial Services is the court appointed Receiver of SunCoast.
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
Congress and the administration established the private sector Medicare Advantage plans to compete with the traditional Medicare program, arguing that the market is always more efficient than the government. Just to be certain that these private plans were successful, they were given an average of 12 percent more funds than were allocated for traditional Medicare. That wasn’t enough of a buffer for this plan to avoid receivership.
There is now a proposal before Congress to eliminate the excess payments and allow these private plans to truly compete with Medicare on a level playing field. If that passes, will we be seeing more plans go into receivership, or will they just walk away?