Analyst offers prediction about Medicare advantage plans

The Associated Press: Analyst Predicts Flat Initial Medicare Rates
Initial 2012 reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage plans should be roughly flat, which tops the consensus expectation of a 2 percent drop, according to Citi analyst Carl McDonald. McDonald said Tuesday in a research note the rates will be hurt by cuts from the health care overhaul, but he also thinks they will benefit from an adjustment to prior estimates. He noted that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services assumed physician reimbursement rates would drop 20 percent in 2010 and 2011, and that didn't happen (2/9).

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This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.