Another rural Nebraska hospital will stop accepting Medicare Advantage plans

Open enrollment for Medicare recipients ends Dec 7. Now, there’s another warning about one popular plan.Great Plains Health System in North Platte will stop accepting Medicare Advantage plans in 2025.But it’s not just North Platte residents who should be concerned, according to Great Plains Health CEO Ivan Mitchell.”You’re just seeing these issues continue to escalate,” Mitchell said.Mitchell said Medicare Advantage requires prior authorization for some services, which has caused multiple delays and denials for patients needing care.That’s taking time and resources and hurting their bottom line and other patients.”We feel like we’re protecting the public more by not being a network with any Medicare Advantage plan,” Mitchell said. “It is becoming an issue of survival. Great Plains Health, we’ve done okay. We’re in a we’re in a stable position. Quite a few around us that are not,” Mitchell said.Medicare Advantage enrollees will have to pay more in out-of-system costs if they stay with the plan.But they now have a new option. Great Plains applied for and was granted a special enrollment period by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates the plans on a federal level.Residents in the area can switch to traditional Medicare without having a medical assessment to qualify for supplemental coverage.”There was anywhere from 100 to 200 who couldn’t qualify to move back to a supplemental plan without going through medical underwriting,” Mitchell said.So why should people in urban areas be concerned?Fifty-four percent of Nebraska seniors are on Medicare Advantage plans.Brokers tell KETV Newswatch 7 it’s because of expanded coverage like dental, cheaper upfront costs, and other incentives.However, now, one-third of Nebraska hospitals, like Great Plains, are no longer accepting some or all Medicare Advantage plans.”Medicare Advantage is not an advantage for the patient in these situations,” Cozad Community Hospital System CEO Robert Dyer said during an Oct 1 media briefing. Jina Ragland is the associate director for Advocacy and Outreach for AARP Nebraska.She said AARP supports choice for consumers and calls on federal regulators to keep both options strong and on a level playing field.”It is critical to ensure that all Medicare beneficiaries in Nebraska – whether enrolled in MA or traditional Medicare – are treated equitably and have timely access to all necessary health care services, regardless of where they live,” Ragland said in a statement to KETV Newswatch 7.Again, seniors have until Dec 7. for open enrollment.There is unbiased help available. Anyone eligible for Medicare can call the Nebraska State Health Insurance Assistance Program at 800-234-7119

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