The Washington Post
April 10, 2003
Medicare HMO Benefits Down, Premiums Up
By Theresa Agovino, The Associated Press
Medicare HMO premiums are rising while the benefits they offer are diminishing for the fourth year in a row, according to a new study by a nonprofit health research firm.
“Plans don’t want to scare healthy people away with high premiums. You are seeing the plans trying to raise money in different ways like charging more for hospital stays and drug copays.” said Marsha Gold, a senior fellow at Washington-based Mathematica Policy Research who co-wrote the study using government data on the plans.
“The government shows no indication that they want to make this a profitable business for the private sector,” said Clifford Hewitt, an analyst at Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. in Baltimore.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1944-2003Apr10.html
Comment: Perhaps “the government” has the wisdom to not only end the waste of resources on health plan middlemen, but also the wisdom to add a desperately needed prescription benefit to the traditional Medicare program.