Health Care — Senate report finds Medicare Advantage overpayments cost seniors billions

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View Online Health Care Health Care The Big Story  Senate committee finds Medicare Advantage overpayments cost seniors billions  A report by the Senate Joint Economic Committee (JEC) found that overpayments to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans caused Medicare Part B premiums to rise for all beneficiaries, including those on Traditional Medicare (TM).  AP According to the JEC's report, overpayments to MA plans caused standard monthly Medicare Part B premiums to go from $185 in 2025 to $203 in 2026.    In 2025, MA plans were paid $84 billion more than it would have cost to cover the same amount of beneficiaries with TM plans, an average of 120 percent more.    The report defined "overpayments" as the difference between what the federal government paid for MA plans versus Traditional Medicare (TM) plans. When payments to MA plans exceeds those for TM plans, premiums go up for both groups.    Medicare Part B covers medically necessary services like doctors' visits, supplies and some outpatient prescriptions as well as preventive services. Roughly 63 million people are enrolled in Medicare Part B and a little more than half are on MA plans, which combines both Part A and Part B.    The burden of MA overpayments is spread unevenly across the country, according to the report, as some districts and states have lower rates of MA enrollment.   The report gave the example of Wyoming, where only 21 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in MA, estimating that payers in the state will pay $25.4 million in excess premiums, with most of that from TM enrollees. Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, I'm Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. 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Represented by the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ), a nonprofit focused on advancing justice for low-income families, five SNAP recipients from Colorado, …  Full Story Newsom fires back at Trump over post calling dyslexia 'mental disorder' California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Wednesday went after President Trump over a post calling dyslexia a "mental disorder." In a post on his Truth Social platform Wednesday evening, Trump said that Newsom "said, in a speech, he was dumb, had low Boards, can't read, has dyslexia, and has a mental disorder — A Cognitive Mess!" Newsom fired back at Trump on the social platform X, saying, "I spoke about my dyslexia." "I know that's …  Full Story In Other News  Branch out with a different read: 1 in 3 say they cut back elsewhere to pay for health care: Survey Roughly one-third of Americans cut back on at least one daily expense to afford health care last year, according to a new West Health/Gallup survey. The poll, released Wednesday, found that about 33 percent of the 19,535 respondents surveyed cut back on an expense to pay for health care. That is the equivalent of more than 82 million Americans. The poll was conducted from June 9 through Aug. 25. It has a margin of error of … Full Story Around the Nation  Local and state headlines on health care: Oregon Health Authority identifies Gresham grocery store as latest measles exposure site (Oregon Public Broadcasting)  Montana health officials double down on summer launch of Medicaid work requirements (Montana Free Press)  Michigan Senate passes medical debt bills (Michigan Public)  What We're Reading  Health news we've flagged from other outlets: Medicare Advantage 'dark money' group attempts to win higher payments for insurance companies (KFF Health News)  Major changes to cardiovascular guidelines suggest taking statins as young as 30 (Stat)  Organ donation guidance from CMS warns against coercion, rushed decision-making (MedPage Today)  What People Think  Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill: Measles is the imminent threat America should be concerned about The new SNAP retailer rule falls short — but we can still fix it   You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!  Check out The Hill's Health Care page for the latest coverage. Like this newsletter? Take a moment to view our other topical products here 📩 Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  400 N Capitol Street NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20001 Copyright © 1998 - 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.

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