Medicare Watch articles are featured in a weekly newsletter that helps readers stay up-to-date on Medicare policy and advocacy developments, and learn about changes in Medicare benefits and rules.
Heeding a call to action from more than 40 leading consumer advocates and health insurers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced an initiative to help people with Marketplace plans transition to Medicare.
Do you or a loved one have Medicare and Medicaid and need long-term care at home or in a nursing facility? Find out how to get your long-term care services covered in New York.
Over 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) asking the agency to withdraw a proposal for a demonstration project to test prior authorization requirements in home health care. Home health care services include home-based skilled nursing and therapy care for people with Medicare who are homebound, meaning they are unable to leave their home without difficulty.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently reported $1.5 billion in savings due to “big data” initiatives with the Fraud Prevention System (FPS), which started in June 2011. Over the past five years, CMS used data and predictive analytics to quickly identify and take action on cases of fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare program. Working closely with public and private predictive analytics experts, data scientists, and law enforcement, the FPS “has had a profound impact on fraudulent providers and illegitimate payments,” according to CMS.
In an issue brief released this month, the Commonwealth Fund examines the risk of high health care costs for a certain segment of the Medicare population. For more than 50 years, Medicare has provided guaranteed health benefits for millions of older adults and people with disabilities. Yet, a significant number of people with Medicare are exposed to high health care costs, with lower income populations being the most at risk.
This week, Medicare Rights expressed support for a formal process to update the “Welcome to Medicare” package and enhance education and understanding among newly eligible beneficiaries about enrollment considerations and rules. In a letter to Chairman Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and Ranking Member Jim McDermott (D-WA), leaders of the Health Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, we applauded this provision in the Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016 (H.R. 5273), a bipartisan bill advanced by the Committee on Ways and Means.
The Kaiser Family Foundation recently released an update on the Medicare Advantage (MA) plan market in 2016. According to the report, enrollment in MA plans continues to increase despite concerns that adjustments in payments to MA plans enacted by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would stifle enrollment. These payment adjustments were put in place to reduce overpayments to MA plans and align costs with Traditional Medicare. As of 2016, payment reductions are fully implemented in 78 percent of counties, which accounts for 70 percent of people with Medicare and 68 percent of people with MA plans.
This week, Medicare Rights Center President Joe Baker testified in support of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposal to test new ways to pay for prescription drugs covered under Medicare Part B, at a hearing held by the Subcommittee on Health of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Last week, Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center, sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Orrin Hatch and Ranking Member Ron Wyden expressing support for a proposal to close a loophole in physician self-referral policies. The Ethics in Patient Referrals Act (the Act) prohibits certain types of referrals, specifically ones where the referring doctor owns or has an interest in the provider who administers the referred service. The Act includes exceptions for certain services, including those that could be provided by a physician while the patient is present for the initial visit to aid in diagnosis and minimize delays.
According to a recent issue brief by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), from 1988 to 2015 there was a considerable decrease in the number of large employers that offer retiree health coverage. In 1988, 66 percent of large employers with 200 or more employees offered retiree health benefits and just 23 percent of large employers offered these benefits in 2015.
Heeding a call to action from more than 40 leading consumer advocates and health insurers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced an initiative to help people with Marketplace plans transition to Medicare.
Do you or a loved one have Medicare and Medicaid and need long-term care at home or in a nursing facility? Find out how to get your long-term care services covered in New York.
Over 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) asking the agency to withdraw a proposal for a demonstration project to test prior authorization requirements in home health care. Home health care services include home-based skilled nursing and therapy care for people with Medicare who are homebound, meaning they are unable to leave their home without difficulty.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently reported $1.5 billion in savings due to “big data” initiatives with the Fraud Prevention System (FPS), which started in June 2011. Over the past five years, CMS used data and predictive analytics to quickly identify and take action on cases of fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare program. Working closely with public and private predictive analytics experts, data scientists, and law enforcement, the FPS “has had a profound impact on fraudulent providers and illegitimate payments,” according to CMS.
In an issue brief released this month, the Commonwealth Fund examines the risk of high health care costs for a certain segment of the Medicare population. For more than 50 years, Medicare has provided guaranteed health benefits for millions of older adults and people with disabilities. Yet, a significant number of people with Medicare are exposed to high health care costs, with lower income populations being the most at risk.
This week, Medicare Rights expressed support for a formal process to update the “Welcome to Medicare” package and enhance education and understanding among newly eligible beneficiaries about enrollment considerations and rules. In a letter to Chairman Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and Ranking Member Jim McDermott (D-WA), leaders of the Health Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, we applauded this provision in the Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016 (H.R. 5273), a bipartisan bill advanced by the Committee on Ways and Means.
The Kaiser Family Foundation recently released an update on the Medicare Advantage (MA) plan market in 2016. According to the report, enrollment in MA plans continues to increase despite concerns that adjustments in payments to MA plans enacted by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would stifle enrollment. These payment adjustments were put in place to reduce overpayments to MA plans and align costs with Traditional Medicare. As of 2016, payment reductions are fully implemented in 78 percent of counties, which accounts for 70 percent of people with Medicare and 68 percent of people with MA plans.
This week, Medicare Rights Center President Joe Baker testified in support of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposal to test new ways to pay for prescription drugs covered under Medicare Part B, at a hearing held by the Subcommittee on Health of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Last week, Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center, sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Orrin Hatch and Ranking Member Ron Wyden expressing support for a proposal to close a loophole in physician self-referral policies. The Ethics in Patient Referrals Act (the Act) prohibits certain types of referrals, specifically ones where the referring doctor owns or has an interest in the provider who administers the referred service. The Act includes exceptions for certain services, including those that could be provided by a physician while the patient is present for the initial visit to aid in diagnosis and minimize delays.
According to a recent issue brief by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), from 1988 to 2015 there was a considerable decrease in the number of large employers that offer retiree health coverage. In 1988, 66 percent of large employers with 200 or more employees offered retiree health benefits and just 23 percent of large employers offered these benefits in 2015.
