CMS Gives Notice of 4.3% Pay Hike for Medicare Advantage Plans

CMS Gives Notice of 4.3% Pay Hike for Medicare Advantage Plans 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 1/13/25 
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to increase payments to Medicare Advantage plans for 4.3% in 2026, but implementation will depend on what happens with the new presidential administration. CMS has issued an advance notice of policy changes for Medicare Advantage and Part D that would install technical updates, including to the ways the agency calculates payments to health plans. ... Though Medicare Advantage does not cover hospice care, many providers depend on MA payments for other programs like palliative care, among others. The changes are intended to continue CMS’s three-year phase-in of updates to the MA risk adjustment model and growth-rate calculation related to medical education costs. However, it will be up to the incoming Trump administration to bring these changes to fruition — if they so choose.