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Committee on Ways and Means

For Immediate Release
Contact: Press Office 202-225-8933
April 23, 2002

WASHINGTON - Last week, four Ways and Means Committee leaders asked House Appropriators to provide the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with resources needed to help expedite their appeals process.

Seniors currently can wait years for a decision to be made on their health care coverage. Some even die before a ruling is finally issued. An indication that the current system is in crisis is that the average appeals process takes 1,214 days - nearly 4 years. CMS needs sufficient resources to ensure that seniors get the care they need, when they need it.

Click on the link for a copy of the letter to Labor Health and Human Services Appropriations Chairman Ralph Regula (R-OH) from Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA), Ranking Member Charles Rangel (D-NY), Chairman of Subcommittee on Health, Nancy Johnson (R-CT), and Ranking Member of Subcommittee on Health, Pete Stark (D-CA).