September 2009: If Medicare Advantage plans impose higher premiums and higher co-payments for servcies, over 10 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in these plans will be affected. In some states, the number of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in these plans is fairly low. In other states the numbers are quite high. Below are some examples of Medicare Advantage enrollment by state. The numbers are the percentage of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage.
| Oregon 41% | Pennsylvania 36% | California 34% | Rhode Island 34% |
| Arizona 32% | New York 28% | Florida 28% | Texas 17% |
| Georgia 13% | Kansas 9% | New Hampshire 6% | Vermont 3% |
These numbers are taken from the Kaiser Family Foundation web site (http://kff.org) on the Medicare Advantage Tracker page. Data is provided on the number of Medicare beneficiaries as well as the average amount private insurance companies are paid per month per enrollee in each state.
President Obama has repeatedly said that Medicare benefits will not change for seniors. Yet, cuts to Medicare Advantage will result in changes for people enrolled in these plans. Their Medicare benefits are going to change starting in January 2010.
Well, I was wrong about changes for 2010. And here it is 2011 and Medicare Advantage plans still have $0 premiums in Arizona.