HLC to CMS: Protect Stability in Medicare Advantage Program

Letter Urges Current Payment Rates to be Maintained Through 2015

In a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Marilyn Tavenner, Healthcare Leadership Council president Mary R. Grealy requested that payment rates for the Medicare Advantage program be maintained at current levels through 2015 to “avoid significant consequences for seniors’ health and health costs.”

Ms Grealy pointed out that $200 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage over the past few years and a 6.7 percent rate reduction in 2014 has resulted in negative consequences for seniors. She wrote, “It triggered the elimination of some benefits, loss of access to providers, higher cost-sharing, and some plans were even forced to discontinue.” She added that it would be detrimental to send seniors back into traditional fee-for-service Medicare, noting that “it is well documented that, without chronic condition management and other wellness and prevention services (that Medicare Advantage plans offer), healthcare costs for seniors increase.”