Last month, Congress passed sweeping legislation that funds the federal government for six weeks and paves the way for a longer-term spending agreement. While the bill also makes significant changes to Medicare and other health care programs, both good and bad, it excludes several important reforms the Medicare Rights Center supports. Today, we asked Congress to include these policies in essential spending legislation they are expected to consider later this month.

Together with Medicare and Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) builds health security for people of all ages. Repealing or undercutting the ACA without a meaningful replacement would jeopardize the health and well-being of millions. Accordingly, we are concerned that several recent proposals from the Trump administration could undermine the health law and destabilize the public and private insurance markets.

This week, President Trump submitted his annual budget request to Congress. The administration’s plan includes legislative proposals and detailed funding recommendations for Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) which runs from October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019.

The Trump Administration recently announced that it will allow states to require Medicaid recipients to work, take job training, or do community service to stay eligible for the program. To date, ten states have asked to make this change, and the administration has given the greenlight to the first—Kentucky.

Funding for the federal government lapsed last Saturday after the Senate rejected a four-week funding measure. Most Senate Democrats and some Republicans voted against the bill. At issue for most was how to proceed on a permanent fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an informal request for information (RFI) on December 26, with significant implications for Medicare and Medicaid. Comments are due January 25. The Medicare Rights Center will be providing input, and we encourage all stakeholders to use our template comments to weigh in as well. Read below to learn what’s in the RFI, and what you can do to respond today!

Last week, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced plans to test a new way of paying Medicare providers for many of the services they perform, including major joint replacement and some cardiac interventions. This model—the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced)—is the first of its kind to be introduced by the Trump administration.

On December 26, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) quietly issued an informal request for information (RFI) with significant implications for Medicare and Medicaid.

Lawmakers began returning to Washington this week, where they face a backlog of unresolved issues and a policy agenda that puts Medicare at risk.

Before adjourning in December, Congress cleared a short-term spending bill that pushed contentious fiscal debates into early 2018. The result is a daunting to-do list this month, which includes the need to pass another temporary spending bill to keep the government open past January 19. Also on that list is a longer-term CHIP fix, full-year appropriations, DACA, a health care package, expiring Medicare policies, and additional disaster aid.

On December 19, the Medicare Rights Center joined over 70 organizations in asking House and Senate leaders to pass the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (S. 1909; HR 2575) by year’s end.

Currently, far too many people with Medicare are irreversibly harmed due to the cumbersome and confusing Part B enrollment system. The consequences of these missteps can be significant—often leading to a lifetime of higher premiums, substantial out-of-pocket health care costs, gaps in coverage, and barriers to accessing needed services.