Seniors on Medicare Advantage plans could pay more in premiums, while Medicare payments for drugs, dialysis and power wheelchairs get mixed reviews.
"Despite near-zero inflation and recessionary conditions, health insurers in 2010 face another year of double-digit increases in the charges they pay for hospital services, physicians, drugs, and other healthcare costs," U.S. News and World Report writes in a news column. Many insurers will raise premiums and co-pays or eliminate some coverage of certain expensive drugs, but "[t]he biggest percentage impact of the changes may be felt by the estimated 11 million older Americans with Medicare Advantage policies, according to Edward A. Kaplan," senior vice president at the Segal Co., which surveys cost trends at health and drug-plan providers annually.