Better Medicare Alliance Urges CMS to Support Medicare Advantage Ahead of Rate Notice
Washington, D.C. (February 17, 2016) – Today 45 ally organizations of the Better Medicare Alliance (BMA), the leading advocacy coalition supporting Medicare Advantage, sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Acting Administrator Andrew Slavitt voicing support for Medicare Advantage (MA) ahead of the agency’s annual 45-day advance notice on the program.
The letter represents the growing, diverse coalition of key stakeholders who depend on stability in payments and predictability of policies that enable improvements in health care delivery in Medicare Advantage. The letter urges CMS “to ensure that proposed changes reflect the goals of MA in providing coverage that enables early intervention, care coordination, and reduced disease progression, particularly for those beneficiaries with multiple conditions.”
“Medicare Advantage is working – it’s working to improve care for beneficiaries, it’s working to empower clinicians to transform the model of care, and it’s working to achieve the goals of the Administration to move the Medicare system from volume to value,” said Allyson Y. Schwartz, BMA President and CEO. “BMA will utilize the experience and expertise of our allies, as well as beneficiaries to inform policymakers as they consider policies that impact Medicare Advantage.”
BMA allies include advocacy organizations, aging service agencies, beneficiaries, clinicians, health plans, provider groups, and retiree organizations who are at the forefront of care and innovation in MA.
The letter included key research and facts on Medicare Advantage highlighted during BMA’s “Medicare Advantage: The Facts Say Yes” digital advocacy campaign that launched in January and has run for the past month. The campaign spotlighted the success of the Medicare Advantage in improving care for 17 million seniors and people with disabilities.
###
To view the Better Medicare Alliance letter to CMS Acting Administrator Andrew Slavitt, click here.