Private fee-for-service Medicare Advantage plans this year will be paid an average 16.6% more than what the same enrollees would have cost in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program, according to a new study from the Commonwealth Fund. Researcher Brian Biles, M.D., professor of health policy at George Washington University, and colleagues estimate that extra payments to these plans will amount to $1,248 per beneficiary compared to traditional Medicare fee-for-service for a total of nearly $2.5 billion. "While new requirements will eliminate some of the higher payments to plans and strengthen reporting requirements, we need to determine whether these plans are the best use of limited Medicare dollars," said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis.