Medicare+Choice

Acronym: M+C

The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) established a new Part C of the Medicare program, known then as the Medicare+Choice (M+C) program, effective January 1999. As part of the M+C program, the BBA authorized CMS to contract with public or private organizations to offer a variety of health plan options for beneficiaries, including coordinated care plans (such as health maintenance organizations (HMOs), provider sponsored associations (PSOs), and preferred provider organizations (PPOs)), Medicare Medical Savings Account (MSA) plans, private-fee-for-service (PFFS) plans, and Religious Fraternal Benefit (RFB) plans. These health plans provide all Medicare Parts A and B benefits, and most offer additional benefits beyond those covered under the Original Medicare program. The M+C program in Part C of Medicare was renamed the Medicare Advantage (MA) Program under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), which was enacted in December 2003. The MMA updated and improved the choice of plans for beneficiaries under Part C, and changed the way benefits are established and payments are made. Under the MMA, beneficiaries may choose from additional plan options, including regional PPO (RPPO) plans and special needs plans (SNPs). The MMA further established the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Part D) program, and amended the Part C program to allow (and, for organizations offering coordinated care plans, require) most MA plans to offer prescription drug coverage.