Loneliness is prevalent amount older adults in Medicare Advantage plans, reports Alexa Mikhail for Fortune. Most older adults no longer work and have few outlets for social interaction. The government is not addressing their lack of social stimulation. Their Medicare Advantage plans, government health plans administered by corporate health insurers, which are paid to manage their enrollees’ health, should be helping to address their enrollees’ loneliness.
A survey of 28,000 older adults in Medicare Advantage plans finds that more than half of them (three in five) are lonely or extremely lonely. Family are often not near by. Friends are often not around. As a rule, their Medicare Advantage plans do not help them. Consequently, older adults who suffer from loneliness are at greater risk for a range of health issues, including dementia, depression and anxiety.
What can isolated adults do in an emergency? One in five older adults have no one to turn to in an emergency. Two in five struggle to find social support. Medicare Advantage plans do not make it their business to foster social interaction among their enrollees, even though it’s an important way to promote their well-being.
Many older adults struggle mentally and physically as a result of social isolation. They need help taking their medicines and remodeling their homes, but they can’t get help. They don’t have easy and safe access to a bathroom, shower, kitchen and bedroom. They can’t get to their doctors’ appointments. It’s not clear that any Medicare Advantage plans are helping to ensure these basic needs are met or even to minimize enrollees’ risk of falling, even though these corporate health plans are receiving some $140 billion in overpayments each year from the government.
Half of older adults have annual incomes under $30,000 and deteriorating health. Loneliness means that they are as much as three times more likely to end up in an emergency room than people who have family or other social companions around to help.
If Medicare Advantage plans were putting enrollees’ needs ahead of their profits, they would be promoting social engagement among their enrollees and otherwise spending money on their enrollees in meaningful ways.
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