Medicare Rights Center Submits Ideas to Transform Medicare Advantage and Part D
—Non-Profit Consumer Group Recommends Improving Beneficiary Education and Knowledge—

 Washington, DC—The Medicare Rights Center (Medicare Rights) responded yesterday to a request from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on how to strengthen the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D prescription drug programs. Medicare Rights is a national, nonprofit consumer service organization that works to ensure access to affordable health care for older adults and people with disabilities.

“We are grateful for this opportunity to share recommendations with CMS about how to make the Medicare Advantage and Part D programs work even better for millions of older adults, people with disabilities, and their families, and we thank the agency for this inquiry,” said Medicare Rights President Joe Baker.

Medicare Rights’ comments focused on the following:

• improving beneficiary supports and education;
• promoting active and informed plan choice;
• maintaining and strengthening oversight;
• simplifying plan-level appeals processes;
• engaging patients and advocates in innovation; and
• achieving payment accuracy in Medicare Advantage.

“Our comments come from an all-important perspective—the on-the-ground, everyday experiences of people who have Medicare and who need help navigating the system and making the most of their earned benefits. Our ideas are linked to challenges reflected in the nearly 20,000 questions asked on our helpline each year.”

Read the comments.

Read Medicare Trends and Recommendations: An Analysis of 2015 Call Data from the Medicare Rights Center’s National Helpline.

Press Contact: Mitchell Clark – mclark@medicarerights.org

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