The Medicare Advantage paradox: Who benefits most?

Becker’s Hospital Review – Tuesday, March 24, 2026
By Alan Condon

Medicare Advantage now covers about 55% of eligible beneficiaries (about 35 million people) and costs the federal government a projected $76 billion more in 2026 than traditional fee-for-service Medicare would, according to a March report by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

So when The University of Pennsylvania’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics convened a panel discussion March 13 to ask “Is the program working?” — the answer carried real weight.

Sachin Jain, MD, MBA, COO of the SCAN Group and Health Plan, and Cheryl Damberg, PhD, principal senior economist and director of the Center of Excellence on Health System Performance at RAND, gave a layered answer: Yes, for many seniors, particularly those with modest incomes; no, by the measure policymakers originally promised; and deeply complicated in between.

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