The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an informal request for information (RFI) on December 26, with significant implications for Medicare and Medicaid. Comments are due January 25. The Medicare Rights Center will be providing input, and we encourage all stakeholders to use our template comments to weigh in as well. Read below to learn what’s in the RFI, and what you can do to respond today!

Last week, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced plans to test a new way of paying Medicare providers for many of the services they perform, including major joint replacement and some cardiac interventions. This model—the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced)—is the first of its kind to be introduced by the Trump administration.

On December 26, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) quietly issued an informal request for information (RFI) with significant implications for Medicare and Medicaid.

Lawmakers began returning to Washington this week, where they face a backlog of unresolved issues and a policy agenda that puts Medicare at risk.

Before adjourning in December, Congress cleared a short-term spending bill that pushed contentious fiscal debates into early 2018. The result is a daunting to-do list this month, which includes the need to pass another temporary spending bill to keep the government open past January 19. Also on that list is a longer-term CHIP fix, full-year appropriations, DACA, a health care package, expiring Medicare policies, and additional disaster aid.

On December 19, the Medicare Rights Center joined over 70 organizations in asking House and Senate leaders to pass the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (S. 1909; HR 2575) by year’s end.

Currently, far too many people with Medicare are irreversibly harmed due to the cumbersome and confusing Part B enrollment system. The consequences of these missteps can be significant—often leading to a lifetime of higher premiums, substantial out-of-pocket health care costs, gaps in coverage, and barriers to accessing needed services.

On December 20, Congress passed its tax overhaul package. As expected, the legislation will add $1.5 trillion to the debt over ten years, creating short- and long-term financing challenges for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security—and putting those who rely on these programs at risk.

Over the past few weeks, House and Senate Republicans have been meeting to work out the differences between their two tax bills. Recent reports indicate they have reached a deal on the final bill and plan to vote next week. If this timeline holds, the bill could be signed into law before Christmas. Legislative text has yet to be released, but here’s what we know so far about the final bill.