There are plenty of eyes on the Medicare Advantage program, and interest in reforms is growing on both sides of the aisle.

It's with that backdrop that researchers at RAND surveyed experts about potential policy ideas and the impacts on beneficiaries, costs and more. The analysis was built using the Delphi method, in which panels are presented with multiple rounds of questioning to determine a consensus.

The panel included 52 experts, spanning researchers, the MA industry, patient advocates and policymakers. The survey didn't identify a single policy proposal that rose to the top and would benefit all three stakeholder groups included in the analysis.

"It may not be really a surprising finding, but the fact that it's empirically shown illustrates the complexity of changing anything related to healthcare," said Dmitry Khodyakov, a senior sociologist at RAND and one of the study's authors, in an interview. "There is always going to be a party that may not may not be thrilled."

For example, one idea that would likely be most beneficial to enrollees—enhancing traditional Medicare to make it more competitive with MA—comes with clear downsides for insurers.

If original Medicare added supplemental benefits, established an out-of-pocket maximum and addressed cost-sharing, it would become a more attractive option for many. For plans, this would mean potentially lower enrollment and thus lower profitability.

But it also may not generate benefits for the government, as if payment parity isn't baked into the shift, then savings from lower MA outlays would likely be negated by higher spending in traditional Medicare.

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