10 key Medicare Advantage updates in 2024

10 key Medicare Advantage updates in 2024 
Becker's Payer Issues; by Rylee Wilson; 6/27/24 
The first half of 2024 brought shifting trends for Medicare Advantage. Payers continued to warn of rising medical costs in the MA population, and some are predicting they will lose members next year. Insurers picked up a win in June when CMS said it would recalculate star ratings for 2024. Here are 10 key Medicare Advantage updates to know: 

1. CMS recalculated Medicare Advantage plans' star ratings ...
2. Some Medicare Advantage insurers may pare down their plan offerings in 2025 ...
3. Hospitals' contentious relationship with MA plans continued in the first half of 2024 ...
4. The two-midnight rule took effect at the beginning of 2024 ...
5. A co-branded Medicare Advantage plan offered by UnitedHealthcare and Walmart will come to an end ...
6. CMS issued its final 2025 Medicare Advantage and Part D rule in April, setting new standards around marketing, broker payments and prior authorization ...
7. CMS finalized a slight decrease in Medicare Advantage benchmark payments for 2025 in April ...
8. Don Berwick, MD, who served as CMS administrator during the Obama administration, told Becker's he would like to see Medicare Advantage "slowed or stopped."
9. The Cigna Group reached a deal to sell its Medicare business to Health Care Service Corp. for $3.3 billion ...
10. Though MA enrollment keeps climbing, the program may not have the profitability it once did for insurers ...