We are writing to express our strong objections to serious inaccuracies in the draft Medicare & You Handbook for 2019. We are submitting technical comments as part of the stakeholder review process but believe that the matter is of such concern that it also deserves your attention.

The Center for Medicare Advocacy, Justice in Aging, and the Medicare Rights Center each have decades of experience with the Medicare program. We are united in our commitment to ensuring the program meets the needs of all consumers it serves.

Medicare & You is the core Medicare communication to beneficiaries. It is critical that the information in the Handbook be fairly and accurately presented. Beneficiaries making important choices about their coverage need to be able to rely on the Handbook for unbiased information that they can trust. However, when comparing Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, the 2019 draft Handbook does not meet this standard, distorting and mischaracterizing the facts in serious ways…