By Sneha S K
March 10 (Reuters) – A congressional committee’s investigators released a report on Tuesday that found the average American senior’s Medicare premiums last year were about 10% higher due to alleged overpayments to private Medicare Advantage plans.
Medicare Part B premiums that most seniors pay were partly pushed up by controversial health-insurer practices such as adding diagnoses to trigger higher payments, according to the Joint Economic Committee, a bipartisan group of lawmakers that advises Congress on financial matters.
Medicare is a U.S. government program for individuals aged 65 and older or those with disabilities. The government reimburses private health plans, called Medicare Advantage, a set amount for each patient but pays more if patients are sicker.
Medicare Part B provides coverage for outpatient services including doctor visits, diagnostic tests and physician-administered drugs.
The committee found that in 2025 the federal government paid health insurers who offer Medicare Advantage plans up to $84 billion more than it would have cost to cover the same beneficiaries under its own government-run Medicare plans.
It estimates Medicare overpayments increased Part B premiums by $212 for enrollees in 2025, totaling $13.4 billion in higher premiums.
These higher Part B premiums negatively impact seniors as they are deducted directly from their social security checks.
By 2035, per-person premiums are projected to double from $2,440 to about $5,000, the report found, making the plans less affordable to seniors.
Government investigators have been probing how health insurers’ billing practices have contributed to Medicare Advantage costs.
(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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