Insurance companies often heavily market their Medicare Advantage plans, and offer extra benefits like dental and vision insurance. Because of the initial appeal of Medicare Advantage plans, over half of people eligible for Medicare opted for a Medicare Advantage plan in 2023. But there’s a major drawback to Medicare Advantage plans: they lock patients into a preferred network of doctors and hospitals, narrowing options for treatment. Driving the effort was concern among legislators that California seniors on Medicare Advantage plans were facing fewer and fewer choices in their networks. Dambowic has a Medicare Advantage plan, and for the moment, she is satisfied with her network choices.
