On January 25, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that a record 16.3 million people had enrolled in coverage through Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace Coverage, including 3.6 million new enrollees. This is a record number—a 13% increase over last year—despite not yet including final numbers from […]
Last week, the Commonwealth Fund reported on a new survey that found that Medicare beneficiaries of color used more home health services than white beneficiaries overall and were more likely to rely on unpaid informal caregivers for those services. Many older adults and people with disabilities require home health care […]
The Commonwealth Fund recently released an explainer delving into the role Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D marketing has on people with Medicare. This explainer comes as MA marketing has attracted more scrutiny because of complaints about misleading practices and as federal agencies have begun looking more closely at how […]
This week, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released a new issue brief about the effects of Medicaid expansion on hospitals and other providers. KFF found that recent studies agree with previous data and generally show positive effects in reducing uncompensated care and uninsured status, as well as increasing revenues for […]
In late December, Congress passed an omnibus spending bill (P.L. 117-328) that funds the federal government through the current fiscal year (September 30, 2023) and makes several important changes to Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare Medicare Telehealth PHE Waiver Extension—The bill extends most of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) Medicare […]
This week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a timeline for the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. This program implements Medicare’s new authority to directly negotiate prescription drug prices. Through the program, Medicare will have the ability to negotiate prescription drug prices with […]
Medicare Savings Program Expansion in New York This year, more older adults and people with disabilities in New York will be eligible for Medicare financial assistance through the newly expanded Medicare Savings Program (MSP). The monthly MSP income limits have increased to an estimated $2,107 for individuals and $2,839 for couples, […]
As of January 1, more New Yorkers are eligible to enroll in a Medicare Savings Program (MSP). MSPs pay the monthly Medicare Part B premium on behalf of people with limited resources and may provide other cost assistance as well. We applaud New York’s efforts to increase eligibility and urge […]
This year, several long-anticipated changes to Medicare enrollment periods and prescription drug costs take effect. Enrollment Period Changes General Enrollment Period (GEP) The General Enrollment Period (GEP) runs from January 1 through March 31 of each year. Now, people who enroll in Medicare during the GEP will have their coverage […]
