Our December 18th meeting, which was a Zoom, called focused on the rapid national growth of Medicare Advantage plans, as well as the challenges and opportunities they face.
There were two primary speakers on this topic. One was David Main, partner in the healthcare practice at Nelson Mullins, and Co-Founder and General Counsel of the Medicare Advantage Plan Alliance (MAPA), which works regularly with CMS to facilitate compliance of MA plans with federal regulations. David has practiced in the managed care arena going back to his work on the HMO Act in the U.S. Senate and has represented many MA plans. Our other speaker was Wendy Richey, who has worked as the Chief Compliance Officer of several Medicare Advantage plans over the past 40 years, who is on the Board of Directors of MAPA, and who has worked the halls of Capitol Hill and CMS for many years in support of the MA industry.
The presentations covered the history of attempting to apply coordinated care principles and value based care to Medicare, the benefits and advantages to beneficiaries of MA plans, the difficulties and costs of the regulatory burdens facing the industry, critiques of the program, and the future possibilities of MA concepts as consideration is given to expanding insurance access to the general population. We also discussed the use of innovative technologies in the operation of Medicare Advantage plans.