Side Effects: Massachusetts Seniors Will Lose Medicare Advantage Plans in 2011

Kathryn Nix / September 30, 2010

President Barack Obama’s promise that “if you like it you can keep it” may be this generation’s “read my lips—no new taxes,” claim. New Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Dr. Donald Berwick recently said “Medicare Advantage remains strong and a robust option for millions of seniors who choose to enroll or stay in a participating plan today and in the future.” But seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans offered through one Massachusetts insurer are about to find out otherwise.

Harvard Pilgrim, the state’s second largest insurance company, plans to cancel its Medicare Advantage plan by 2011, forcing 22,000 seniors, who may very well like their current coverage just fine, to find another option. For many, this could mean enrolling in traditional Medicare and Harvard Pilgrim’s Medicare Supplemental plan, which offers similar benefits but at a higher expense. (more…)