By Alex Moore
Although Medicare Advantage (MA) plans usually offer vision, hearing, and dental benefits not covered by traditional Medicare, MA beneficiaries generally don’t receive additional care in those areas, which are sometimes called supplemental benefits. That’s according to a new study published this January in Jama Network Open, an international, peer-reviewed healthcare journal.
The study, titled “Use and Costs of Supplemental Benefits in Medicare Advantage, 2017-2021,” reviewed data from two nationally representative surveys to assess beneficiaries’ access to, use of, and expenses paid for supplemental benefits. It reviewed more than 76,000 observations to reach its conclusions.
As mentioned above, one of the study’s key findings was that MA beneficiaries generally do not receive supplemental benefits at a higher rate than traditional Medicare beneficiaries, despite MA plans offering more coverage. Among people with difficulty seeing, 78 percent of MA beneficiaries wore corrective lenses, compared to 76 percent of traditional Medicare enrollees. Among people with severe hearing loss, 28 percent of MA beneficiaries wore hearing aids, compared to 29 percent of people with traditional Medicare plans. The study also found that people with MA plans were not less likely to delay dental care due to costs than people on traditional Medicare.
This naturally leads to the question: Why? If Medicare Advantage plans offer enhanced supplementary benefits, why aren’t people who have these plans accessing dental, vision, and hearing benefits at a higher rate than those who don’t?
According to the study, one important potential driver is awareness. Despite nearly all MA plans offering supplemental benefits, only 54 percent of those enrolled in the plans knew they had dental or vision coverage. In other words, nearly half had coverage without even knowing it!
Another potential factor is the cost-sharing imposed by MA plans. The study found that MA plans, on average, only covered about one-fourth of the cost for enrollees’ dental, vision, and hearing services.
So, if you’re on an MA plan, what should you do? First, if you haven’t been using your supplementary benefits, contact your provider to make sure you have them. (You almost certainly do.) Then, ask for details. How can you find providers that accept your coverage? What costs would you have to pay out-of-pocket to access your covered care? Will your MA coverage save you enough on hearing, vision, and dental benefits that it’s worth the extra cost over a traditional Medicare plan? Go and find out. They’re your benefits, and you deserve to take advantage of them.
