Warren calls for end to Direct Contracting, reforms to Medicare Advantage risk adjustment

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, called for the Biden administration to pull the direct contracting payment model over fears it would turn Medicare over to “corporate profiteers.” Warren also called for reforms during a hearing Wednesday of the Senate Finance Committee to risk adjustment practices she said Medicare Advantage plans are using to get overpayments from Medicare. “It is completely baffling to me that the Biden administration wants to give the same bad actors in Medicare Advantage free rein in traditional Medicare,” Warren said during the hearing on the solvency of the Medicare hospital insurance trust fund expected to run out of money in 2026. Warren also called for changes to the risk adjustment system for MA plans, pointing out that over the past 12 years MA plans have cost the federal government $143 billion more than traditional Medicare. Warren said cracking down on MA could help shore up the hospital insurance trust fund and help fund lowering the Medicare eligibility age or adding dental benefits to traditional Medicare.