A recent article analyzing Medicare Advantage Five-Star Plans, written by Maureen Hennessey and Larry Blandford from Precision for Value in Boston, was published in the Journal of Clinical Pathways’ latest edition.
“The Affordable Care Act (ACA) increased the incentives for quality under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Five-Star Quality Rating System,” Hennessey and Blandford said in the article. “In the process, the act ushered in a transformation of the quality landscape not only for the 18.5 million beneficiaries expected to enroll in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for 2017, but for the entire health care system as well. Since the ACA’s inception in 2010, insurers offering MA plans have escalated their efforts toward quality improvements to achieve higher ratings of their plans and earn higher financial bonuses.”
According to the article, the number of enrollees from Massachusetts who have four and five-star plans under Medicare Advantage Plans will increase to 68 percent in 2017, up from 17 percent in 2009.
“Even with a transition from a Democratic to a Republican administration, we are likely to see a continued emphasis on value-based models,” the authors said.
