Today, the Medicare Rights Center’s New York policy team released a brief that outlines ways to improve Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) in New York State. MSPs are programs that improve the affordability of Medicare for people with limited incomes by covering premiums and, in some cases, cost-sharing like copayments and coinsurance. Many people with Medicare have very […]
In an unsurprising official announcement, the Office of the Actuary and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), reported a 9.7% increase in total national health care spending in 2020. The increase, driven largely by government spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is the fastest rate of growth […]
According to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) polling, the number of fully vaccinated adults who have received a booster dose more than doubled in the last month. Nearly one-fourth of all adults and one-third of those over age 50 say they have received a booster, and many more plan […]
Various branches of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), are currently accepting comments on a proposal to repeal the Securing Updated and Necessary Statutory Evaluations Timely (SUNSET) rule. The agencies have determined the rule to be statutorily questionable, procedurally unsound, […]
The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) recently released an issue brief detailing the prescription drug proposals in Build Back Better (BBB), the bill that passed the House of Representatives last month and is now being considered in the Senate. The BBB would be a significant improvement in drug affordability and plan design and would reduce […]
The House-passed budget reconciliation bill expands Medicare Part B to cover more comprehensive hearing services. A timely Urban Institute report highlights the importance of this provision, and the need for similar updates to Medicare vision coverage. A previous brief assessed the potential impact of a more robust Medicare dental benefit. The Urban Institute report […]
