GAO-11-247R Medicare Advantage: Comparison of Plan Bids to Fee-for-Service Spending by Plan and Market Characteristics

February 4, 2011 The report, published by the United States Government Accountability Office, provides a comparative analysis of the Medicare Advantage program vs. the traditional fee-for-service program. While most of Medicare's 46 million beneficiaries are covered by the traditional fee-for-service (FFS) program, about one in four beneficiaries receives benefits through private health plans under the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. Congress asked the GAO to examine the relationship between MA plan bids and service area spending. In this report, the GAO assessed: (1) how MA plan bids compare to FFS spending in their service areas overall . . .