Tiberi pushes back against CMS’s final changes to Medicare Advantage program

U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) said that final changes to Medicare Advantage announced on Monday would disrupt quality, affordable health care that many seniors receive, with low-income seniors impacted the most.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) issued advanced notice in February of proposed changes to Medicare Advantage’s (MA) Part D program payment and policy calendar for fiscal year 2017.

Bipartisan members of the House Ways and Means Committee and House Energy and Commerce Committee raised concerns about the proposed changes in a letter sent in March.

In a joint statement released Monday, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Tiberi, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, said that CMS didn’t address those concerns.

“The administration’s final changes to the Medicare Advantage program aren’t helping America’s seniors and retirees,” Tiberi and Brady said. “Yet, again, CMS failed to address many of the policy recommendations we made on behalf of MA beneficiaries, including our calls to abandon changes to the Employer Group Waiver Plans (EGWP) and changes that will negatively impact low-income seniors. The agency’s dismissal of our concerns — the concerns of our seniors, doctors and health care providers — will only disrupt the quality, affordable health care choices millions of seniors enjoy today.”

Last week, Republican members of the committee specifically requested that CMS abandon proposed EGWP changes before issuing a final rule, but they have received no response.

“Medicare Advantage is a critical program serving millions of Americans,” Tiberi and Brady said. “As we continue to review the more-than-200-pages of policy changes released this afternoon, we will look for opportunities to mitigate the negative affects of the final rule and promote reforms that will bolster the Medicare Advantage program for our seniors.”