Advocating in the Capital

The Medicare Rights Center is hard at work in our nation’s capital advocating for policies that protect and strengthen Medicare for older adults and people with disabilities.

We are currently working to prevent lawmakers from using the increased federal deficit that resulted from the Tax Cut bill as an excuse to cut or restructure Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. While Congress approved legislation preventing automatic cuts, there is still a gaping revenue shortfall of $1.5 trillion or more, putting these programs directly in the cross-hairs of policy-makers seeking to pay for the tax cuts.

Medicare Rights is also urging Congress to address several expiring or lapsed issues important to people with Medicare. These time-sensitive priorities include fully repealing the harmful Medicare therapy caps and extending funding for community-based organizations to provide outreach and enrollment to low-income people with Medicare. We are working to ensure these programs and policies are restored immediately, and paid for responsibly—in a way that does not inappropriately shift costs on to people with Medicare.

We are also advocating for swift passage of the bipartisan Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (S. 1909, H.R. 2575), which would modernize, improve and simplify the Medicare Part B enrollment process.

In addition, Medicare Rights is actively engaged in federal regulatory advocacy. We recently commented on a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), offering our perspective on the agency’s potential changes to the Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage (MA) programs. Our response focused, in part, on opportunities for CMS to better empower people with Medicare, including by promoting informed choice and strengthening beneficiary protections.

We will keep you updated as we continue our fight to defend Medicare from harmful proposals, as well as advocate for ways to improve the program. To get the most up-to-date information on Medicare policy and advocacy developments, sign up for our weekly Medicare Watch newsletter here: https://www.medicarerights.org/resources/newsletters