Seniors Oppose Cutting Medicare Advantage to Fund Physician Payment Fix

WASHINGTON, June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Most seniors - regardless of
whether they are enrolled in traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage -
oppose cutting the Medicare Advantage program to fund the Medicare physician
payment fix and believe cuts to Medicare Advantage will have a negative
effect on seniors, a new survey finds.

Power Point Presentation: www.ahip.org/content/default.aspx?docid=23669

Memo of Survey Findings: http://www.ahip.org/content/default.aspx?docid=23671

Conducted jointly by Ayres, McHenry & Associates and the Feldman Group on
behalf of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the poll found that seniors
in traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage generally agree about how to
approach the physician payment issue.

By a 3-to-1 ratio among traditional Medicare enrollees and a 6-to-1 ratio
among Medicare Advantage enrollees, seniors oppose cutting Medicare Advantage
instead of cutting payments for doctors who treat Medicare patients.

"Regardless of how seniors receive their Medicare coverage, most clearly
oppose singling out Medicare Advantage enrollees to fund the physician payment
fix," said Roy Temple, Principal at the Feldman Group.

By a 4-to-1 ratio among traditional Medicare enrollees and a 5-to-1 ratio
among Medicare Advantage enrollees, most seniors believe cuts to the Medicare
Advantage program will have a negative impact on seniors in Medicare health
plans.

"Medicare Advantage enrollees overwhelmingly believe that cutting their
program will have a negative effect on seniors," said Dr. Q. Whitfield Ayres,
President of Ayres, McHenry & Associates.

Half of seniors enrolled in traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage oppose
the scheduled cut in payments to doctors. However, by more than a 5-to-1 ratio
among traditional Medicare enrollees and a 13-to-1 ratio among Medicare
Advantage enrollees, seniors prefer cutting other programs besides Medicare
Advantage or raising taxes to offset the spending needed to stop a scheduled
cut in physician payments.

"Seniors agree that the physician payment system needs to be fixed, but not at
the expense of more than nine million seniors who rely on the high-value
coverage they receive from Medicare Advantage plans," said Karen Ignagni,
President and CEO of AHIP.

The survey also found that an overwhelming majority of seniors enrolled in
traditional Medicare (89 percent) and Medicare Advantage (88 percent) are
satisfied with their coverage. Other key findings include:

Ninety-two percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees and 93 percent of
traditional Medicare enrollees are satisfied with their doctor.

Eighty-seven percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees and 93 percent of
traditional Medicare seniors never had to change their doctors because their
doctors either stopped treating Medicare patients or left their plans.

Eighty-nine percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees and 62 percent of
traditional Medicare enrollees believe it is important for seniors to have
the choice of a plan other than traditional Medicare, such as a Medicare
Advantage plan.

The survey of 401 traditional Medicare enrollees and 400 Medicare Advantage
enrollees was conducted June 11-15, 2008 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.9
percent.

America's Health Insurance Plans - Providing Health Benefits to More Than 200
Million Americans

SOURCE America's Health Insurance Plans

Robert Zirkelbach of America's Health Insurance Plans, +1-202-778-8493