{mosads}The program seeks to improve managed care plans under Medicare Advantage using quality bonuses.
The bonuses are also designed to moderate pain from cuts to Medicare Advantage contained in the 2010 healthcare overhaul.
The administration stood by the effort, saying older Americans deserve improvements in care, even as the GAO called for the program’s end.
With its $8.3 billion price tag, the program will have a greater budgetary impact than any Medicare demonstration project since 1995, the report stated.