The recently-passed Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA of 2018) makes a number of changes to Medicare, including permanently authorizing Dual Special Needs plans (D-SNPs), which are Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for people who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.

To help inform implementation of these changes, earlier this month the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a request for stakeholder input on (1) The design of an integrated Medicare-Medicaid appeals approach for D-SNPs; and (2) The establishment of minimum state contract requirements for D-SNPs.

This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final Medicare Advantage and Part D 2019 Rate Announcement and Call Letter. This is the finalized annual update to Medicare Advantage and Part D programs, which includes payment updates and policy changes for payment in calendar year (CY) 2019.

The Kaiser Family Foundation recently published a list of frequently asked questions about the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Also known as the “Innovation Center” CMMI was created by the Affordable Care Act to test new ways to improve care and lower costs within Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

The Commonwealth Fund recently released a report analyzing different proposals by states to impose a work requirement for Medicaid benefits and how those proposals would impact older adults and people with disabilities. To date, 12 states have proposed conducting demonstrations that add work requirements to Medicaid, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has so far approved proposals from Kentucky, Indiana, and Arkansas. Among other policy changes, these demonstrations would tie Medicaid benefits to a minimum work requirement.

Last week, Congress passed and the President signed legislation to fund the federal government for the remaining six months of fiscal year 2018 (FY18). The spending package, known as an omnibus, addresses several of Medicare Rights top priorities:

Health care in the United States is very expensive, and many experts believe one thing contributing to that expense is the abundance of unnecessary or “low-value” health care services provided to patients. Policymakers typically believe that patients receive this unnecessary care because they expect or demand it. However, this month, the University of Michigan revealed new polling data that turns that assumption upside down.

Last night, lawmakers unveiled draft legislation to fund the federal government for the remaining six months of fiscal year 2018 (FY18). Congress is expected to finalize the package this week in order to prevent a government shutdown when current federal funding expires at midnight Friday.

The report, Medicare Trends and Recommendations: An Analysis of 2016 Call Data from the Medicare Rights Center’s National Helpline, re-examines the top three issues heard on Medicare Rights’ helpline in prior years. Each issue is demonstrated through clients’ stories heard on the helpline, which the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), state agencies, insurers, elected officials, and other stakeholders can use as a basis to strengthen the Medicare program for the more than 58 million people it serves.

The Kaiser Family Foundation recently released a report with new data on how much people with Medicare paid for health care in 2016 as a share of their total spending. These data show that Medicare households spend a higher proportion of their incomes on health care coverage, services, and drugs than non-Medicare households. This is important information when discussing what policies should be enacted to protect or improve Medicare’s affordability, especially for those with tight household budgets and fixed incomes.

This week, the Medicare Rights Center submitted comments in response to the Advance Notice of Methodological Changes for Calendar Year 2019 for the Medicare Advantage CMS-HCC Risk Adjustment Model and Call Letter (Call Letter). The Call Letter outlines CMS’s payment and policy strategies for upcoming plan years. As in years past, Medicare Rights provided comprehensive comments and feedback, highlighting the concerns and issues beneficiaries tell us about on the helpline every day.