Last week, Medicare Rights wrote to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) responding to three proposals under consideration by MedPAC to alter the Part D prescription drug program. Established in 1997, MedPAC is an independent federal body made up of 17 members with diverse expertise in the financing and delivery of health care services. MedPAC regularly makes recommendations to Congress regarding the administration of the Medicare program.

Six years ago, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law. Through new health insurance Marketplaces and the expansion of Medicaid, 20 million uninsured Americans have gained health coverage since 2010. Alongside these historic reductions in the number of uninsured, the ACA also made many important improvements to Medicare. On this sixth anniversary of the ACA, we reflect on three key ways the ACA strengthened Medicare.

According to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) highlighting the racial and ethnic backgrounds of people with Medicare, one-fifth of older Americans ages 65 and older are people of color, including 9 percent who identify as black, 7 percent as Hispanic, and 4 percent as Asian. Medicare plays a vital role in providing health coverage for the nation’s older and disabled populations.

The budget proposal approved this week by the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee is predicted to balance the federal budget in nine years, largely through across-the-board reductions in spending. One exception to these cuts is an increase of $90 billion dollars in defense spending. The proposed changes to the health care system are profound.

As millions of Americans ready themselves to vote this election season, they need to know the various candidates’ positions on key Medicare issues. For this reason, the Medicare Rights Center is providing six questions to ask the 2016 presidential and congressional candidates to find out where they stand on protecting and strengthening Medicare.

Last week, the Medicare Rights Center submitted comments in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 2017 Advance Rate Notice and draft Call Letter (2017 Call Letter) for the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D programs. The 2017 Call Letter proposes a variety of updates, including changes to payment methodologies designed to improve the accuracy of payments to plans serving beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, and modifications to payment structures for employer-sponsored MA plans.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that it reached an important benchmark to tie 30 percent of Medicare payments to the quality of care delivered instead of the quantity of services provided. According to HHS, as a result “…over 10 million Medicare patients are getting improved quality of care by having more time with their doctors and better coordinated care.”