This week, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced a proposal to implement long-anticipated updates to processes for people who are applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The existing application process for SSI, a program that provides additional income for people with disabilities and older adults who have extremely low or […]
A new article in Health Affairs urges states and localities to reduce barriers to voting and improve civic participation to bolster community health. Voting is linked to improved health potentially both by steering the country, state, or locality toward important policy goals and by improving the individual’s sense of hope, […]
Despite Medicare’s significant successes, the program’s out-of-pocket costs are burdensome for many and medical debt is far too common. Medicare’s benefit design and lack of financial protections expose beneficiaries to frequent and high costs. Enrollees financially contribute to their coverage through payroll taxes, premiums, deductibles, and other cost-sharing amounts. Many also […]
In its annual data book on “Health Care Spending and the Medicare Program,” the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) shows significant Medicare Advantage (MA) overpayment. This year, the data book estimates that MA payments are 22% higher than what Medicare would have spent to cover the same group of enrollees […]
In a historic first, the Biden-Harris administration today announced the results of the initial round of drug price negotiation made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). For 2026, the first year the prices will be in effect, the administration projects that people with Medicare will save $1.5 billion in […]
It has been two years since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). The landmark legislation included critical and long-overdue updates to Part D, the prescription drug benefit for people with Medicare. The Drug Price Negotiation Program, which establishes, for the first time, a mechanism for Medicare […]
In late April, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) updated regulations for Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), making its important nondiscrimination protections more widely available. Also known as the Health Care Rights Law, Section 1557 is a core component of the ACA. It prohibits discrimination […]
In 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) opened a review to determine if Medicare should cover Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)—drugs used to prevent HIV—as a preventive service for people at high risk of HIV acquisition. Medicare Rights strongly supports this coverage, and CMS appears poised to make it […]
This week 59 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law, improving access to care and advancing health and financial security for millions of Americans. As we celebrate this milestone, we pause to recognize the critical role of Medicare in the nation’s health care system and […]
This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new project designed to help keep costs and premiums down for Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. The project will be voluntary and limited to standalone Part D plans—those that are not tied to Medicare Advantage (MA-PDs). The […]
