WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI), and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) sent a letter to Acting Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Andy Slavitt in response to a recent proposal from CMSthat would impact the Medicare Advantage program. The committee leaders were joined by the chairmen and ranking members of the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Health subcommittees. 

In the letter, the bipartisan committee leaders raised concerns about how CMS’s proposed policy changes for 2017 could negatively impact seniors’ healthcare choices. The members specifically requested more information about three policy areas that they warned could be disruptive to beneficiaries’ choices and the Medicare Advantage program:

CMS’s announcement to rely more significantly onencounter data

Proposed risk adjustment changeswhich could disrupt plans’ ability to target resources to low-income beneficiaries with multiple conditions

·       Proposed cuts to Employer Group Waiver Plans,which provide coverage for about 3 million retirees.

They wrote:

“As always, we reiterate the importance of policies that both preserve beneficiary choice and ensure that seniors’ access to coordinated care remains strong …

We stand ready to work with CMS on common sense policies that promote choice, encourage plan innovation to improve care, and ensured continued access to Medicare benefits through the Medicare Advantage program.”

Click here to view the letter.

Full text of the letter below: