Better Medicare Alliance

The experts embedded in the industry argue that the system requires fundamentalist stabilization, not temporary patches.

Rebecca Buck, the senior vice president for public affairs for the Better Medicare Alliance, an organization that actively represents the interests of private insurers, argues that this massive geographic and financial volatility should not be accepted as the new normal.

What does she suggest?

Her position is that stabilizing the market requires fully funding Medicare Advantage and ensuring predictable policymaking.

Overall satisfaction with Medicare Advantage plans has fallen sharply over the past two years, according to a survey of plan members by J.D. Power.

Mary Beth Donahue, President and Chief Executive of Better Medicare Alliance, a Medicare Advantage research and advocacy group, noted that her organization's own surveys showed high levels of enrollee satisfaction with the program.

But she cited cuts in federal payments to plan sponsors as a cause for declining satisfaction.

It's impacted premium and out-of-pocket costs, and we're definitely now seeing it affect benefits, she said.