COVID-19 Posed New Challenges for 2021 MA, Part D Bids

June 4

There are always uncertainties when it comes to projecting plan costs for the year ahead, but Medicare Advantage and Part D organizations in the most recent bid cycle faced a particularly unpredictable set of circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think we will all look back on the 2021 bids as the year of COVID-19,” says Brad Piper, a principal and consulting actuary in Milliman’s Milwaukee office, who is fresh off helping clients prepare bids that were due June 1. “That was a big challenge for the organizations that are in the Medicare Advantage program — [perhaps more so] than on the Part D side — and it impacted both sides of the coin: costs and revenue.”

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Radar on Medicare Advantage

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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