Why is traditional Medicare better than an HMO?
I should begin by pointing out that there are times when receiving your Medicare benefits through an HMO may be preferable to traditional fee-for-service Medicare. Usually, however, I recommend that people stick with traditional Medicare for several reasons. First, when new Medicare laws were first enacted several years ago about how managed care companies provide Medicare benefits under the Medicare Advantage program, many HMOs decided not to renew their contracts with Medicare. Thus many beneficiaries were in the position of having to find a new provider or else return to traditional Medicare. These changes could be traumatic and often resulted in delays in essential medical services. Although Medicare has since changed the laws on Medicare managed care by replacing the old Medicare+Choice plans with the Medicare Advantage plans, there is still the risk that whichever provider you choose may not renew its contract with Medicare if capitation payments from Medicare are insufficient. S
I should begin by pointing out that there are times when receiving your Medicare benefits through an HMO may be preferable to traditional fee-for-service Medicare. Usually, however, I recommend that people stick with traditional Medicare for several reasons. First, when new Medicare laws were first enacted several years ago about how managed care companies provide Medicare benefits under the Medicare Advantage program, many HMOs decided not to renew their contracts with Medicare. Thus many beneficiaries were in the position of having to find a new provider or else return to traditional Medicare. These changes could be traumatic and often resulted in delays in essential medical services. Although Medicare has since changed the laws on Medicare managed care by replacing the old Medicare+Choice plans with the Medicare Advantage plans, there is still the risk that whichever provider you choose may not renew its contract with Medicare if capitation payments from Medicare are insufficient. S
