Joe Biden Proposes to Underfund Medicare Advantage in Twilight Hours of His Administration

President Joe Biden proposed underfunding Medicare Advantage during the last few weeks of his administration, which could have disastrous effects for American seniors.

Last Friday, Biden’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a 2.23 percent increase for the increasingly popular Medicare option.

The proposed rate increases are lower than the consumer price index’s (CPI) year-over-year trend for inflation, or 2.7 percent.

In effect, this makes for a net cut of Medicare Advantage, similar to how the administration slashed Medicare Advantage in 2024.

American seniors have experienced higher premiums and lost their health plans due to Biden’s prior cuts.

Roughly 1.3 million Americans enrolled in Medicare Advantage lost their health plan due to the Biden Medicare Advantage cuts.

Seniors with Medicare Advantage are experiencing an average premium increase of more than 10 percent across 19 states.

Median out-of-pocket spending for Advantage plans will increase $400, or to $5,400 from $5,000.

Biden’s underfunding and prior cuts of Medicare Advantage follow as prominent Democrats have routinely accused Donald Trump of wanting to cut entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Medicare Advantage is an increasingly popular healthcare option for American seniors; 54 percent of those eligible to enroll in Medicare choose Medicare Advantage over traditional Medicare.

A report from Elevance Health, a major health insurance provider, found that Medicare Advantage enrollment is linked to lower Medicare spending, which could help the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) lower spending.

Americans may wonder why the left attacks Medicare Advantage; many progressives believe that the program could undermine traditional Medicare.

Progressives such as Reps. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Ro Khanna (D-CA), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), have voiced similar concerns about Medicare Advantage’s popularity as a threat to Medicare.

The Bull Moose Project wrote about the benefits of Medicare Advantage over Medicare:

MA is exactly the model of a government program that works for the people. It’s one of most successful public-private partnerships in American history. And because it’s so much more efficient than original Medicare, it helps ensure that the Medicare program will be around for younger Americans. Research shows that the Medicare program could be extended by 17 years if original Medicare was more like Medicare Advantage. [Emphasis added]

In June, then-candidate Trump slammed Biden’s cuts to Medicare.

“I will not cut one penny from Social Security or Medicare, which Joe Biden is destroying by letting millions of people come into our country,” Trump said.

The former president continued, “By contrast, Joe Biden has cut Medicare Advantage for the last two years.” He added that this cut is a “total betrayal of seniors.”

Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.