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js-share-email-form"><input type="hidden" name="email_type" value="share_email" class="share-email-form-input "><input type="hidden" name="share_title" value="Feds propose maintaining payments to Medicare Advantage" class="share-email-form-input"><input type="text" name="your_name" class="email-to optional share-email-form-input ui-text-input" placeholder="Your Name"><input type="text" name="from" class="email-to required share-email-form-input ui-text-input " placeholder="Your Email"><input type="text" name="to" class="email-from required share-email-form-input ui-text-input " placeholder="Your Friend's Email"><textarea class="email-message share-email-form-textarea js-share-email-form-textarea ui-textarea " name="message" placeholder="Message (optional)">Feds propose maintaining payments to Medicare Advantage  A bipartisan group of more than 50 senators sent a letter Thursday urging CMS to protect the more than 16 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage by keeping the current payment levels in 2016.  Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/1EyQ8Qt</textarea><script type="text/javascript"> var RecaptchaOptions = { theme: 'custom', custom_theme_widget: 'util-bar-recaptcha-widget' }; </script><div class="email-form-recaptcha-widget-container js-email-form-recaptcha-widget"></div><script type="text/template" id="recaptcha_widget"><div class="recaptcha_widget email-form-recaptcha-widget"><div id="recaptcha_image" class="recaptcha_image"></div><div class="recaptcha_only_if_incorrect_sol"> Incorrect please try again </div><input type="text" id="recaptcha_response_field" name="recaptcha_response_field" placeholder="Enter the words above" class="share-email-form-input ui-text-input "><noscript> {# <iframe src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150420063222/http://api.recaptcha.net/noscript?k=6Lf7fuESAAAAAJ3_KMIDbkQySsEE0vMkLXUkq4eY" height="300" width="500" frameborder="0"></iframe> #} <textarea class="required" name="recaptcha_challenge_field" 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src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150420063222im_/http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/dd8b1baf67130a1edc52e1868cb7f1ece5f42a54/r=26&c=26x26/local/-/media/USATODAY/staff/images/v2/ODonnell_Jayne.png" height="26" width="26"/> Jayne O'Donnell</a>, USA TODAY </span><span class="asset-metabar-time asset-metabar-item nobyline">4:45 p.m. EST February 20, 2015</span></div></section><div class="asset-double-wide double-wide p402_premium" role="main" itemprop="articleBody"><div id="module-position-ODTSJv-uOW8" class="story-asset story-metadata-asset"><div class="article-metadata-wrap"><section id="module-position-ODTSJvTBqh0" class="storymetadata-bucket expandable-photo-module"><aside itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" class="single-photo expandable-collapsed"><div class="image-wrap"><img class="expand-img-horiz" itemprop="url" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150420063222im_/http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/b0ca0ff51b0475e0ab1634387da080afc7b910d0/c=0-0-2660-2000&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2015/02/20/USATODAY/USATODAY/635600399921845500-151908130.jpg" alt="151908130" data-mycapture-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150420063222/http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/2015/02/20/USATODAY/USATODAY/635600399921845500-151908130.jpg"/><span class="toggle"></span><meta itemprop="name" content="151908130"/></div><p class="image-credit-wrap"><span class="js-caption-wrapper"><span class="cutline js-caption">The federal government sets rates for Medicare Advantage insurance plans, which millions of seniors rely upon for their hospital and doctor visits.</span><meta itemprop="copyrightHolder" content=""/><span class="credit">(Photo: Thinkstock)</span></span></p></aside></section></div></div><div id="module-position-ODTSJv-LEjk" class="story-asset inline-share-tools-asset"><div class="inline-share-tools asset-inline-share-tools asset-inline-share-tools-top"><span class="inline-share-btn inline-share-btn-facebook" data-share-method="facebook" data-uotrack="InlineShareFacebookBtn"><span class="inline-share-count inline-share-count-facebook"> 35 </span><span class="inline-share-btn-label inline-share-btn-label-facebook">CONNECT</span></span><a class="inline-share-btn inline-share-btn-twitter" data-share-method="twitter" data-uotrack="InlineShareTwitterLink" data-popup-width="550" data-popup-height="450" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150420063222/https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A//usat.ly/1EyQ8Qt&text=Feds%20propose%20maintaining%20payments%20to%20Medicare%20Advantage&via=usatoday" target="_blank" data-popup><span class="inline-share-count inline-share-count-twitter"> 54 </span><span class="inline-share-btn-label inline-share-btn-label-twitter">TWEET</span></a><a class="inline-share-btn inline-share-btn-linkedin" data-share-method="linkedin" data-popup-width="600" data-popup-height="455" data-uotrack="UtilityBarFlyoutLinkedInLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150420063222/http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=http%3A//usat.ly/1EyQ8Qt&mini=true" target="_blank" data-popup><span class="inline-share-count inline-share-count-linkedin"> 19 </span><span class="inline-share-btn-label inline-share-btn-label-linkedin">LINKEDIN</span></a><span class="inline-share-btn inline-share-btn-comments" data-share-method="comments" data-uotrack="InlineShareCommentsBtn"><span class="inline-share-count inline-share-count-comments"></span><span class="inline-share-btn-label inline-share-btn-label-comments">COMMENT</span></span><span class="inline-share-btn inline-share-btn-email" data-share-method="email" data-uotrack="InlineShareEmailBtn"><span class="inline-share-count inline-share-count-email"></span><span class="inline-share-btn-label inline-share-btn-label-email">EMAIL</span></span><span class="inline-share-btn inline-share-btn-more" data-share-method="facebook" data-uotrack="InlineShareMoreBtn"><span class="inline-share-count inline-share-count-more"></span><span class="inline-share-btn-label inline-share-btn-label-more">MORE</span></span></div></div><p>The federal government proposed changes to Medicare Advantage plan payments that will likely keep rates flat in 2016, a move expected to prompt more people to choose the plans.</p><p>The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is required to set rates every year for Medicare Advantage and the prescription drug plans, known as Part D benefits. Final rates are expected on April 6, 2015.</p><p>Medicare Advantage is an optional managed care program that senior citizens choose to stabilize costs in exchange for narrow networks and what insurance companies say is higher-quality care.</p><p>"This is a stable program that will continue to grow in 2016," says Dan Mendelson, former associate director for health at the White House Office of Management and Budget.</p><p>CMS has "long believed" the insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans are being paid too much, especially when it comes to the relative health status of those signing up for these plans,</p><p>"There's a direct relationship between the generosity of government payments and the rates consumers are charged by plans,"said Mendelson, now CEO of consulting firm Avalere Health. "It's not a one to one relationship, but it's definitely the case when government doesn't give an increase or reduces its contribution, plans are passing it along to beneficiaries."</p><p>In December, CMS said that if current formulas were applied strictly, rates would go up about 2%.</p><p>Insurers could go to their beneficiaries, who often don't have to pay a premium, and tell them they have to pay a modest premium if they were unhappy with the final payment numbers.</p><p>A bipartisan group of more than 50 senators sent a letter to CMS on Thursday urging the agency to protect the more than 16 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage by keeping the current payment levels in 2016.</p><div id="module-position-ODTSJv-X4hA" class="story-asset oembed-asset"><div class="story-oembed-wrap "><div class="js-oembed story-oembed story-oembed-scribd story-oembed-type-rich" data-oembed-type="rich" data-oembed-provider="scribd"><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150420063222if_/https://www.scribd.com/embeds/256406618/content" data-aspect-ratio="0.7729220222793488" scrolling="no" id="256406618" width="100%" height="500" frameborder="0"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://web.archive.org/web/20150420063222/https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })() </script></div></div></div><p>"Regulatory policy changes that affect the program's funding, year after year, are creating disruption and confusion among beneficiaries who are looking for consistency and predictability and can damage a program that offers value for beneficiaries," according to the letter. "We urge you to provide needed stability to the MA program that will protect MA enrollees from disruptive changes in 2016."</p><p>The insurance industry trade group America's Health Insurance Plans says further cuts in government funding of Medicare Advantage plans would hurt seniors through "reduced benefits, fewer choices, and increased costs."</p><p>AHIP's<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150420063222/http://www.medicarechoices.org/" title="http://www.medicarechoices.org/"> Coalition for Medicare Choices</a> (CMC) recently launched a new grass-roots and ad campaign designed, it says, to protect Medicare Advantage seniors. The new ads include personal stories from some of CMCs 1.8 million members talking about how Medicare Advantage has "allowed them to keep what matters most," says AHIP.</p><div id="module-position-ODTSJv-rGJg" class="story-asset inline-share-tools-asset"><div class="inline-share-tools asset-inline-share-tools asset-inline-share-tools-bottom"><span class="inline-share-btn inline-share-btn-facebook" data-share-method="facebook" data-uotrack="InlineShareFacebookBtn"><span class="inline-share-count inline-share-count-facebook"> 35 </span><span class="inline-share-btn-label inline-share-btn-label-facebook">CONNECT</span></span><a class="inline-share-btn inline-share-btn-twitter" data-share-method="twitter" data-uotrack="InlineShareTwitterLink" data-popup-width="550" data-popup-height="450" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150420063222/https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A//usat.ly/1EyQ8Qt&text=Feds%20propose%20maintaining%20payments%20to%20Medicare%20Advantage&via=usatoday" target="_blank" data-popup><span class="inline-share-count inline-share-count-twitter"> 54 </span><span class="inline-share-btn-label inline-share-btn-label-twitter">TWEET</span></a><a class="inline-share-btn inline-share-btn-linkedin" data-share-method="linkedin" data-popup-width="600" data-popup-height="455" data-uotrack="UtilityBarFlyoutLinkedInLink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150420063222/http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=http%3A//usat.ly/1EyQ8Qt&mini=true" target="_blank" data-popup><span class="inline-share-count inline-share-count-linkedin"> 19 </span><span class="inline-share-btn-label inline-share-btn-label-linkedin">LINKEDIN</span></a><span class="inline-share-btn inline-share-btn-comments" data-share-method="comments" data-uotrack="InlineShareCommentsBtn"><span class="inline-share-count inline-share-count-comments"></span><span class="inline-share-btn-label inline-share-btn-label-comments">COMMENT</span></span><span class="inline-share-btn 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