Democrats Ask HHS To Limit Medicare Advantage Changes

The signers of the letter are Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich.; Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.; Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.; Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif; Sen. John Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va.; and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J.

“Health care reform strengthened Medicare and made Medicare Advantage more competitive, but it is critical that we don’t let private insurance companies use these changes as an excuse to raise premiums or cut benefits for seniors to bolster their own bottom line,” Baucus, chairman of Senate Finance Committee, says in a statement announcing the letter.

ACA provisions call for the federal government to reduce payments to MA plans by about $136 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The cuts would start in 2012, and the 2011 payment levels would stay the same as in 2010, according to a representative of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the HHS agency that oversees Medicare.

America’s Health Insurance Plans, Washington, is blasting letter.

“Washington can’t slash $200 billion out of Medicare Advantage and then try to shift the blame to the health plans that administer the program when those cuts inevitably result in higher premiums and benefit reductions for seniors,” AHIP spokesman Robert Zirkelbach says. “The CBO has stated that additional benefits provided by Medicare Advantage will be cut in half and that millions of seniors will lose their current coverage.”

The CMS representative notes that CMS believes the MA cuts amount to $136 billion over the 2012-2020 period, not $200 billion.