A new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) issue brief analyzes when people with Medicare make changes to their Medicare Advantage and Part D coverage. The paper highlights beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug coverage (MA-PDs) who change plans when given the opportunity.

Last week, the Medicare Rights Center submitted comments in response to proposals from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to update and change aspects of the Physician Fee Schedule. This annual, proposed rule includes specific information about the payment rate for select services as well as broad policy initiatives and changes.

As Medicare Fall Open Enrollment approaches, the time of year from October 15 to December 7 when people with Medicare can make changes to their coverage, the Medicare Rights Center submitted feedback and suggestions about a critical tool in making these decisions—the Medicare.gov Plan Finder.

CMS recently released a new notice that people with Medicare and Marketplace coverage will receive. The notice informs these individuals that if they have Medicare, they are most likely no longer eligible to receive the premium tax credits to help pay for Marketplace plan premiums. The notice also provides useful information on how to ensure that you are enrolled in Medicare without penalties or gaps in coverage.

This week, Medicare Rights Center, along with a coalition of 20 organizations sent a letter expressing support for the mission and goals of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), including the proposed Part B Drug Payment Model. CMMI is the part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) tasked with developing and evaluating ways to make the Medicare program more value-driven, more efficient, and more effective at delivering and paying for needed care.

While a significant movement is underway to transform the U.S. health care system to deliver person-centered and value-based care, these efforts often place a greater emphasis on the “value-based” aspects rather than the “person-centered” aspects of the transformation.

The Health Care Transformation Task Force, a consortium of patients, payers, providers and purchasers working to accelerate the pace of U.S. health care delivery system transformation, commits to close this gap and inspire a greater focus on patient-centered care.

This week, Medicare Rights responded to proposals from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that would make changes to the Medicare appeals process. Medicare Rights was supportive of some proposals to streamline and modernize the appeals process, and expressed concern about others that may undermine important beneficiary rights and protections.

Eight past Administrators of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services/Health Care Financing Administration—the agency that oversees and runs Medicare—wrote Congressional leaders this week expressing support for the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (H.R. 5772 and S. 3236). Developed by the Medicare Rights Center, the BENES Act modernizes and simplifies the Part B enrollment process.

A report released this week by the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) reviews strategies to stabilize the Affordable Care Act health insurance Marketplaces, drawing on lessons learned from Medicare. Through the Marketplaces, millions of Americans—who would otherwise lack coverage altogether—now have health insurance made available through private plans subsidized by the federal government. While some insurers are succeeding in the Marketplace and expanding their reach, others are experiencing losses, leading to withdrawals from the market and premiums hikes. This instability is causing some to question the long-term sustainability of the Marketplaces.