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August 23, 2022
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Poll: Medicare customers say plans need more mental health, substance abuse coverage

Fact checked byShenaz Bagha
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According to a recent poll, overall customer satisfaction with Medicare Advantage plans has increased, yet a majority of plan members say they do not have enough coverage for mental health and substance use disorder services.

Customer satisfaction with Medicare Advantage plans rose three points from 2021 and has experienced a 15-point uptick during the past 5 years, according to a release from J.D. Power, which conducted the poll.

United States Health Care
Source: Adobe Stock.

However, just 38% of Medicare Advantage plan members believed they have sufficient coverage for mental health treatment, down from 39% a year ago, while only 27% of polled members agreed there was enough coverage for substance use disorder services.

“With an estimated 1.7 million Medicare beneficiaries living with a diagnosed substance use disorder and one in four Medicare beneficiaries living with a mental health condition, there is a big opportunity for Medicare Advantage plans to support more patients and families in need,” Christopher Lis, managing director of global healthcare intelligence at J.D. Power, said in the release. “But coverage does not always guarantee access, as finding providers who accept Medicare may be a challenge in some areas.”

The 2022 Medicare Advantage Study was undertaken by J.D. Power between May and July and was based on the responses of 3,094 Medicare Advantage plan members across the United States.

Among the additional findings of the study, 91% of polled enrollees believed they have enough coverage for routine diagnostics, with 89% reporting enough coverage for preventive and wellness services. Telemedicine usage has declined despite largely positive experiences — 24% of Medicare Advantage plan members utilized the service over the past year, down from 35% in 2021. Conversely, 48% of respondents who used telemedicine said they are very likely to use it again, an increase of five percentage points from last year.

Health plan portals still show promise, but habits are hard to break — 82% of Medicare Advantage members are registered for their health plan’s member portal — up four percentage points from a year ago — but a mere 14% registered for the portal without logging in.

In contrast, overall customer satisfaction scores were 72 points higher (823) when customers registered and logged into the portal than when they do neither (751).