Vice President of Medicare at The Commonwealth Fund @commonwealthfnd
Washington, D.C.
Joined June 2010
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Medicare Advantage or Original Medicare?
How do you decide?
With Open Enrollment approaching, the tradeoffs between the two matter more than ever.
I joined the How to Age Well podcast to dig into the key differences and what to consider before choosing.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
Billions are being spent on Medicare Advantage benefits. What are consumers getting for that investment?
This @nytimes story by @susanjaffe takes a closer look at the dollars, the benefits provided, and what they mean for consumers.
nytimes.com/2026/08/08/busin…
Fraud in the Medicare home health benefit has been a recent focus of the Administration's.
But how do we eliminate fraud while making benefits easily accessible to those who need them?
It's a tough - but essential - regulatory balance.
@Health_Affairs
healthaffairs.org/content/fo…
The TrumpRx launch highlights that even Medicare beneficiaries may use sites like this, even though they don't take insurance.
About 1 in 5 Medicare beneficiaries said they had used GoodRx or other drug discount site in the past yr - mostly to lower costs.
commonwealthfund.org/blog/20…
Gretchen Jacobson retweeted
Perspective by @DavidBlumenthal, MD, MPP, Elizabeth Fowler, JD, PhD, and Gretchen Jacobson, PhD (@GretchJacob): Medicare’s Role in Fighting Chronic Disease nej.md/4t5ZfXS
#HealthPolicy #MedicalPractice
ALT A figure showing the prevalence of chronic conditions among U.S. adults, 2013–2023.
Medicare beneficiaries will be able to choose from 10 prescription drug plans (PDPs), on average, in 2026 -- 4 fewer than in 2025.
Fewer plans will be available in every state.
Choice matters because coverage is only useful if it makes your drugs affordable at your pharmacy.
After the ACA, experts predicted Medicare Advantage enrollment would steeply decline -- but the opposite happened.
In @Health_Affairs Cori Uccello & I explain why this happened.
It's a story of payment incentives, structural barriers & demographic changes.
healthaffairs.org/doi/full/1…
Gretchen Jacobson retweeted
#MedicareAdvantage defied expectations w rapid growth after #ACA enactment. Today in @Health_Affairs, co-authors @GretchJacob & @Actuary_dot_org Sr Health Fellow Cori Uccello examine why – and explore reform options to further improve MA for beneficiaries. bit.ly/4l9v0u6
Gretchen Jacobson retweeted
The Opportunity Costs of Medicare Advantage Plan Rebates | New England Journal of Medicine with @GretchJacob and Cori Uccello @Actuary_Dot_Org @JHU_CHSPM @JohnsHopkinsSPH @JHU_BDPs @JHUCarey nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NE…
1 in 5 Medicare beneficiaries have said they got their prescriptions last year through online drug discount businesses, like GoodRx, primarily to lower their costs.
But do they know this spending doesn’t count toward their Part D out-of-pocket limit?
commonwealthfund.org/blog/20…
"There are challenges that Medicare is facing that will be faced by the [next] administration regardless of which administration."
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Gretchen Jacobson retweeted
In this Viewpoint, @DavidBlumenthal and @GretchJacob explore the affordability of health care services for Medicare Advantage vs traditional Medicare beneficiaries. ja.ma/3T8q8tQ
Multiple surveys have shown few differences in the affordability of care for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries vs those in traditional Medicare.
In our new article, we discuss why this may the case and possible explanations. @DavidBlumenthal @JAMA_current
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam…
Gretchen Jacobson retweeted
"Because of the research and analytical skills I gained at HPM, I was prepared to engage with policymakers in dynamic and rapidly evolving policy discussions,” says HPM PhD ’07 Alum & @CommonWealthFnd VP of Medicare @GretchJacob.
Read about her career: publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/fr…
ICYMI, we looked at survey responses from PCPs and found few differences in how care is delivered for Medicare Advantage vs traditional Medicare (TM) beneficiaries.
But it was interesting to see how few PCPs these days only see pts with TM (among those who see any Medicare pts)
You can see more of our results here: commonwealthfund.org/publica…
Gretchen Jacobson retweeted
More air talk, this time with WBUR, about our @KFFHealthNews - @NYTHealth series on long-term care costs.
wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/01/…
ICYMI, @DavidBlumenthal and I discuss the growing and changing landscape of private plans in Medicare for @NEJM
We lay out how the program works, how it compares to traditional Medicare, and what this growth means for Medicare and its enrollees.
nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NE…
We don’t have solid answers to how MA compares to TM across important facets, incl. quality of care for high-need benes & the effects of prior auth and denials on outcomes & spending.
We also do not know to what degree plans’ supplemental benefits are used & valued by enrollees.