Column on Medicare Advantage misleading

The column “Medicare Advantage has higher incidence of death,” Aug. 30, contained misleading claims that could discourage seniors from making well-informed decisions on the coverage that best suits their financial and medical circumstances this open enrollment season.

Unlike Traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage offers a host of different coverage options — on average 39 plan choices per county. Certainly, some plans will deliver more generous coverage than others and some may be better suited to individuals with complex health care needs. This is not news.

Medicare Advantage is shown to have better health outcomes as compared to Traditional Medicare, particularly for those beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions. In a 2018 study from Avalere Health, chronically ill Medicare Advantage beneficiaries had a 29 percent lower rate of avoidable hospitalizations than those in Traditional Medicare.

Likewise, a 2017 study evaluating Medicare Advantage in three diverse states — California, New York, and Florida — found that Medicare Advantage exceeded Traditional Medicare’s quality of care across all 16 clinical quality measures used.

More than 29,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Albany County alone are currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage. The program has a 99 percent satisfaction rate nationwide. Choosing Medicare Advantage may be the wisest choice for many of New York ’s seniors.

Lev Ginsburg, esq.

Albany Senior Director of Government Affairs, The Business Council of

New York State Inc.