President Trump’s Medicare director said Thursday his team is considering a policy that would automatically enroll Medicare beneficiaries into Medicare Advantage plans, a controversial idea that was touted in the conservative Project 2025 policy blueprint.
In some states, a subset of people who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid are already automatically enrolled into Medicare Advantage plans when they turn 65, said Rachel Gershon, a senior attorney with Justice in Aging, a group that supports low-income adults. It’s not clear how often it happens, but when it does, the instructions on how to opt out come from a private insurer, so people often think it’s junk mail.
“We’re concerned people are auto-enrolled into a Medicare Advantage plan without being given the true option to opt out,” Gershon said.
The problems with default enrollment in Medicare Advantage — mainly, not being able to ensure an individual’s providers and medications are covered — are intensified with dual eligibles, who often rely on services like home care and management of chronic conditions, Gershon said.
