Nebraska seniors need to fully understand their Medicare enrollment choices this fall. Medicare Advantage (MA) plans now cover the majority (51%) of all Medicare-eligible individuals. This is up sharply from five years ago when just over one-third of seniors chose Advantage plans. Due to the lure of lower out of pocket costs and aggressive sales tactics, in 2024, even more enrollees are expected to forgo the benefits of traditional Medicare and enroll in MA plans. 

Patient access to health care is eroding as some Medicare Advantage plans restrict access to health services by inappropriately denying covered services that are medically necessary, requiring unreasonable levels of documentation to demonstrate clinical appropriateness, and changing health plan rules in the middle of a contract year.

While some enrollees may see savings, many living in rural communities across the state are losing access to medically necessary care with plans that erode the state’s rural health care infrastructure and ultimately leave more cost on the backs of our seniors in these communities.

It’s important for Nebraska seniors to understand that not all Nebraska hospitals contract with MA plans and nearly one-third of Nebraska hospitals (32.5%) refuse to contract with certain MA plans.