Faegre Drinker Report on Increased Medicare Advantage ‘Flex’ Benefits Highlighted by AIS Health

In its Health Plan Weekly publication, AIS Health recapped a report written by Faegre Drinker Consulting Principal Mike Adelberg, Associate Aaron Dobosenski and Advisor Vincent Giglierano. In “Flex Benefits in ’21 Show COVID Influence, Insurer Comfort,” the publication reviewed the authors’ analysis of Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits for 2021.

While portions of the article were reprinted from RADAR on Medicare Advantage, AIS Health highlighted the authors’ findings that in 2021, more plans jumped on board, and the availability of such benefits more than tripled.

According to the publication, one likely reason for the increase is that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allowed plans to offer Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SBCIs) to individuals with conditions beyond the 15 diseases it originally outlined.

But “the biggest single reason,” suggested Adelberg, is that “plans have an extra year to explore the opportunities, conduct the analysis and see what their competitors are doing.”

The full article is available for Health Plan Weekly subscribers.