Better Medicare Alliance Statement on Proposed New Medicare Advantage Cuts in President’s Budget

Below is a statement from Krista Drobac, Interim Executive Director of the Better Medicare Alliance, on the proposed new Medicare Advantage cuts released today as part of the President’s budget:

“Medicare Advantage has been subject to billions in real cuts for each of the last four years. These annual cuts have resulted in higher out-of-pocket costs and lost benefits for seniors across America. Piling on billions more cuts will only do more harm to the 16 millions of seniors who count on Medicare Advantage for higher quality, more affordable health coverage. This latest round of proposed cuts is particularly puzzling in light of the broad-based support for moving away from fee-for-service healthcare toward high-value care–a transformation that Medicare Advantage is leading.”

As reference, page 62 of the FY2016 President’s Budget Request states:

“Additional proposals to promote efficiency in the Medicare program include: improving payment accuracy for Medicare Advantage; constraining Medicare cost growth; better aligning payments to teaching hospitals with patient care costs; and addressing excess payments for Medicare Part B drugs to hospitals and physicians. Together, these proposals would save approximately $222 billion over 10 years.”

About the Better Medicare Alliance

The Better Medicare Alliance (BMA) is a new coalition of providers, plans, beneficiaries and advocates who believe Medicare Advantage is better for seniors and better for the healthcare system as a whole. For more information please visit www.bettermedicarealliance.org, and follow BMA on Twitter, @BMAlliance, and Facebook: www.facebook.com/BetterMedicareAlliance.