Medicare Rights Center Submits Ideas to Transform Medicare Advantage and Part D

This week, Medicare Rights Center (Medicare Rights) responded to a request from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on how to strengthen the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D prescription drug programs.

New Data Highlights Income and Assets of People with Medicare

Last week, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released a brief with updated income and asset information and projections for people with Medicare. KFF regularly publishes this information to provide “context for understanding the extent to which the current and future generations of beneficiaries can afford to absorb higher health care costs.”

How Medicaid Per Capita Caps Would Affect Low-Income People with Medicare

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) recently released an issue brief highlighting what a Medicaid per capita cap could mean for people with Medicare who have low incomes. Through the American Health Care Act, some policymakers propose capping what the federal government pays for Medicaid benefits—effectively undermining the program’s basic promise and guarantee.

CMS Reports on Quality of Care Delivered to People with Medicare Advantage

This month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a report on the quality of the health care delivered to people with Medicare Advantage. The report shows separate results for women and men, noting that it appears that the gender of the care recipient may influence the racial and ethnic differences in health care.

Can I delay my Medicare enrollment?

Dear Marci,

Is it ever permissible to delay enrolling in Medicare altogether? I’m still a year off from turning 65, I’m working and covered by my workplace health plan, and I’d like to weigh all options open to me.

– Amanda (Olive Branch, MS)

State-Specific Fact Sheets Show How the American Health Care Act Harms Older Adults

With renewed interest by the White House and some members of Congress to bring the American Health Care Act back for a vote, advocates are working to inform people nationwide about the harmful effects of the proposed legislation.

The American Health Care Act would leave many older adults without health coverage, making it harder for them to afford the care they need. The Medicare Rights Center, along with Community Catalyst, AFSCME, and seven other organizations, compiled fact sheets to be used in states across the country. The fact sheets include useful information about what passage of the American Health Care Act mean for family members, friends, and neighbors in local communities.

The White House and House Leadership Look for New Ways to Repeal the Affordable Care Act

Last month, Congressional Republicans pulled a scheduled vote on a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that would have ended Medicaid as we know it and would have led 24 million Americans to lose their health care coverage. That bill, the American Health Care Act, also included an unaffordable “age tax” on health insurance for older adults and undermined the Medicare guarantee.

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll Finds Increased Support for Affordable Care Act; Skepticism about the American Health Care Act and the President’s Campaign Promises

A new Kaiser Health Tracking Poll released this week shows that about two-thirds (64 percent) of the public say that it is a “good thing” that the American Health Care Act did not pass. More than half (52 percent) of the public said that they are “relieved” that the bill did not pass, reflecting concern about the impact that the American Health Care Act would have had on people’s access to quality health insurance. In the same vein, more people said the bill did not pass because it went “too far” in cutting benefits than said it failed because it did not go far enough.