The 2016 annual report of the Board of Trustees (the Trustee’s Report) was released this week. The report estimates that the Medicare Part A trust fund will be fully funded through 2028. Health reform is a major contributor to an improved financial outlook for the Medicare program. The Part A trust fund’s projected fully funded date of 2028 is 11 years later than it was before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted.

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee recently approved a 2017 spending bill that completely eliminates funding for the Medicare State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP).

Older adults, people with disabilities, and their families and caregivers need assistance understanding the A, B, C and Ds of Medicare. Operating in every state, SHIPs answer questions about Medicare and help people solve problems. Eliminating SHIPs would leave millions who need support comparing coverage options, appealing denials, applying for financial assistance, and navigating increasingly complex Medicare benefits stranded—with nowhere to turn.

In its June report to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) includes several suggestions to improve and reduce costs in the Part D prescription drug program. MedPAC, observing that Part D spending has increased more than 50 percent since 2007 as a result of rising drug costs and other factors, recommends proposals that it estimates could save $10 billion over five years.

Due to a recent increase in the number of appeals and appeal backlogs, GAO was asked to take a look at the various levels of the appeals process and examine trends, the data that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) uses to keep track of the appeals process, and what HHS is doing to decrease the number of appeals.

Heeding a call to action from more than 40 leading consumer advocates and health insurers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced an initiative to help people with Marketplace plans transition to Medicare.

The Health Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means held a hearing this week to discuss legislative opportunities to improve and sustain the Medicare program. Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center, submitted a letter for the hearing record highlighting 50 ways to strengthen Medicare for today’s beneficiaries and for future generations.

Do you or a loved one have Medicare and Medicaid and need long-term care at home or in a nursing facility? Find out how to get your long-term care services covered in New York.

Over 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) asking the agency to withdraw a proposal for a demonstration project to test prior authorization requirements in home health care. Home health care services include home-based skilled nursing and therapy care for people with Medicare who are homebound, meaning they are unable to leave their home without difficulty.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently reported $1.5 billion in savings due to “big data” initiatives with the Fraud Prevention System (FPS), which started in June 2011. Over the past five years, CMS used data and predictive analytics to quickly identify and take action on cases of fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare program. Working closely with public and private predictive analytics experts, data scientists, and law enforcement, the FPS “has had a profound impact on fraudulent providers and illegitimate payments,” according to CMS.

In an issue brief released this month, the Commonwealth Fund examines the risk of high health care costs for a certain segment of the Medicare population. For more than 50 years, Medicare has provided guaranteed health benefits for millions of older adults and people with disabilities. Yet, a significant number of people with Medicare are exposed to high health care costs, with lower income populations being the most at risk.