CareSource to sell Medicare Advantage in Ohio

Sept. 28--CareSource will offer Medicare Advantage coverage in Ohio for the first time next year after rolling out advantage plans in Kentucky and Indiana earlier this year, officials at the downtown Dayton-based health insurance company said Tuesday.

Medicare -- the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older -- contracts with individual insurers to sell advantage plans, which offer the same same benefits as traditional Medicare, plus benefits such as wellness programs, vision and dental care that are not covered by traditional Medicare.

CareSource will sell plans in 14 counties in Ohio and be available to about half of the approximately 2.2 million Medicare eligible residents in the state, according to Bob Brett, CareSource's vice president in charge of Medicare Advantage.

Brett noted that total enrollment next year in Medicare Advantage is expected to hit 18.5 million -- ab0ut 30 percent of the 57 million people covered by the Medicare program.

"The tide is shifting. Thousands of our members are aging into Medicare...and 70 percent of those aging into Medicare are selecting Medicare Advantage," Brett said.

Enrollment in Medicaid Advantage plans has already more than tripled from 5.3 million in 2004 to 17.6 million this year, and the market share for Medicare Advantage is expected to continue to grow given the surge of Americans turning 65.

The popularity of the plans has led number of insurers and health care providers, including Dayton-based hospital network, Premier Health, to offer their own plans.

CareSource's entry into the market is expected to force many of its competitors to compete on price. The company is already one of the lowest-cost providers of individual health plans in Ohio's Health Insurance Marketplace, and it is also expected to price its Medicare Advantage plans competitively, according to HealthPocket, a health insurance comparison website.

The average premium for CareSource's Medicare Advantage plans sold in Ohio next year will be about $30 -- less than half of both the statewide average ($68.93) and national average ($62.48) for 2017, based on HealthPocket's examination of rates approved by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Open enrollment for new Medicare plans begins Oct. 15, and runs through Dec. 7.

___

(c)2016 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)

Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at www.daytondailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.