About 65% of people with traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage (MA) say they’re satisfied with their coverage, but a large portion of people aren’t totally on board with their healthcare plans, according to a new survey from The Commonwealth Fund.
The survey, released Thursday, was conducted on 3,280 Medicare beneficiaries between Nov. 6, 2023, and Jan. 4, 2024. About 1 in 3 said they were somewhat satisfied with traditional Medicare and MA plans, adding that lack of coverage, high prices and uncertainty over what was covered contributed to their satisfaction rating. People on Medicare are just about evenly split in terms of those using traditional Medicare and private MA plans.
A total of 22% of those using MA said they experienced delays in care because of required insurance approvals. That compares to 13% of traditional Medicare beneficiaries. Of those with MA, 36% said they had to wait more than one month to see a doctor, compared to 34% with traditional Medicare. Of the respondents, 10% on MA said the doctor or hospital they wanted to use wouldn’t accept their coverage; the same was true for 8% of people who used traditional Medicare.
About 62% of people using MA plans had to have a health assessment to receive care, compared to 27% on traditional Medicare. The assessments spurred discussions with doctors, but it rarely led to changes in their care plans or helped them gain access to more services or benefits, participants reported.
About 69% of MA plan users said they used some of the supplemental services in the past year but about 3 in 10 people on those plans hadn’t used the extra services. People used dental and vision care benefits, along with an allowance for over-the-counter medications, most commonly when it came to supplemental services.
Notably, the cost for the federal government to give coverage through MA is higher than that of traditional Medicare, the authors said. That’s partly because MA plans typically provide benefits that traditional Medicare doesn’t, such as dental and vision care, the authors said.
“Overall, one-third of beneficiaries indicated their coverage fell short of their expectations, which raises questions about both Medicare Advantage plans and traditional Medicare,” the authors wrote.
“Finding ways to improve the value of Medicare coverage, including making care more accessible and affordable, can help ensure that the program meets the needs of all beneficiaries, irrespective of their coverage choices,” the authors added.
