Citing Concerns About Broader MA Trends, NYC Comptroller Puts Aetna Pact in Peril

For the second time in recent history, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is refusing to register the city’s contract with a Medicare Advantage insurer. But this time it’s not just legal challenges that has the comptroller questioning the city’s move away from fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare, but the broader trends in the MA industry. And CVS Health Corp.’s Aetna is ready to defend its positioning as an experienced provider of retiree health benefits.

After multiple delays, the city was planning to transition some 250,000 retirees and their eligible dependents on Sept. 1 to a PPO plan administered by Aetna. The contract is valued at $15 billion over the first five-plus years of the agreement.

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Lauren Flynn Kelly

Lauren Flynn Kelly Managing Editor, Radar on Medicare Advantage

Lauren has been covering health business issues since the early 2000s and specializes in in-depth reporting on Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid and Medicare Part D. She also possesses a deep understanding of the complex world of pharmacy benefit management, having written AIS Health’s Radar on Drug Benefits from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016. In addition to her role as managing editor of Radar on Medicare Advantage, she oversees AIS Health’s publications and manages the health editorial staff. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.

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