Earlier this week, Congressional Republicans unveiled their plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), known as the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Only two day later, the bill was debated and voted on by the House Committees on Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means. In response, Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center (Medicare Rights), sent a letter to the Committee leadership explaining why Medicare Rights cannot support the legislation or the process behind it.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced a time-limited opportunity allowing Medicare-eligible people who were or are currently enrolled in the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplaces to enroll in Medicare Part B and to be relieved of any associated late enrollment penalties.

This chance to request equitable relief is welcome news for Marketplace enrollees who wrongly delayed or declined Medicare Part B enrollment. The relief may include retroactive or immediate Medicare Part B enrollment and a reduction in or elimination of Medicare Part B late enrollment penalties. People who were or are enrolled in Marketplace coverage and who are entitled to premium-free Medicare Part A can apply for this relief through September 2017.

Last week, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released an issue brief on the effects Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) had on coverage, access to care, and economic outcomes. In the brief, KFF reviews the findings of over 100 studies of the impact of states extending the eligibility of the Medicaid program to low-income adults between ages 19 and 64.

Today, the Medicare Rights Center released its annual helpline trends report, which outlines persistent challenges facing people with Medicare heard through thousands of calls to its national consumer helpline.

The report, Medicare Trends and Recommendations: An Analysis of 2015 Call Data from the Medicare Rights Center’s National Helpline, highlights the leading issues heard on Medicare Rights’ helpline. Each issue is demonstrated through consumer stories and accompanied by policy solutions, which the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), state agencies, insurers, elected officials, and others can pursue to improve the Medicare program for the more than 55 million people it serves.

Currently, people with Medicare are all entitled to the same set of basic benefits, and the program treats all people with Medicare equally. Some policymakers support changing Medicare into a premium support program, which would mean people with Medicare would receive a voucher to purchase health coverage through a private plan or Original Medicare.

As policymakers continue to debate the future of our country’s health care system, some policymakers endorse proposals to give Medicare providers the right to charge seniors and people with disabilities more for their care through balance billing or private contracting. Under these plans, Medicare providers could require patients to negotiate a contract for the cost of their care, and people with Medicare would have additional payments on top of their premiums, copayments, and coinsurance. Unless they successfully negotiate otherwise, patients would also be responsible for filing the Medicare claim.

In December, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a demonstration program that will test new ways for Medicare to pay hospitals that perform heart or hip surgeries. Under the new model, Medicare will pay participating hospitals one payment, known as a “bundled payment,” for a person’s hospital stay and the 90 days following a heart attack, cardiac bypass surgery, or surgical hip treatment. The hospital stay and 90-day post-stay period together are known as an “episode of care.” As part of this demonstration, CMS announced the creation of an ombudsman to serve people with Medicare in this model and other similar programs—a move applauded by Medicare Rights.

Last week, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released an issue brief on Medicare’s financial outlook. Medicare’s funding, finances, and future continue to be major topics of conversation, including during the confirmation hearings for President Trump’s administrative nominees. With this brief, KFF brings much-needed clarity to these discussions. The brief explains Medicare funding, the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) impact on Medicare’s long-term financial stability, and what an aging population means for Medicare going forward.

Last week, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released an issue brief on private contracting—also sometimes referred to as balance billing. The brief explains existing rules that determine what health care providers can and cannot charge their Medicare patients. It also summarizes proposals to relax these rules, allowing doctors to set any price they choose for services and to require people with Medicare to sign contracts to pay above Medicare approved amounts in order to receive care. This proposal has been in the news recently as one of its champions is Congressman Tom Price, the nominee for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.