Trump Administration Gives MA Plans a Parting Gift With Hefty Payment Boost
As one of its final moves before the Trump administration officially ended, CMS on Jan. 15 gave Medicare Advantage (MA) plans a 2022 payment increase that impressed Wall Street analysts.
The 2022 Medicare Advantage and Part D Rate Announcement — which the administration released early in order to offer some additional guidance to plan sponsors during the COVID-19 pandemic — indicated that MA organizations will see an average reimbursement boost of 4.08% next year. That’s a significant improvement from the 2.8% rate increase that CMS projected in October, which Citi analyst Ralph Giacobbe suggested “represents a positive final parting shot by CMS and the Trump administration for the MA program, and de-risks any rate concerns for 2022.”