Primary Education Topic:
Policy and Advocacy
Other Education Topics:
Business & Aging
Health & Wellness
Healthcare & Aging
Leadership in Aging
Legal & Ethical Issues
Thirty percent of Medicare beneficiaries are now covered under private plans. How has this growth changed Medicare, and what are the implications for the future?
By Gretchen Jacobson
Private plans have been part of the Medicare program, and an alternative to traditional Medicare, since the program’s inception. A hallmark of the Medicare program has always been that enrollment in private Medicare plans is voluntary. When people become eligible for Medicare, the default is enrollment in traditional Medicare.