Advocacy Groups Say Proposed Medicare Advantage Cuts Would Affect Blacks, Hispanics
A proposal to reduce reimbursements to private Medicare Advantage plans by as much as $50 billion to cover the cost of SCHIP and other programs "is all but dead," according to some Democratic lawmakers and congressional aides, AP/Long Island Newsday reports. Medicare reimbursements for MA plans -- which cover extra benefits, such as vision and hearing tests and treatments -- are 12% more than reimbursements for the fee-for-service program for equivalent benefits. In recent weeks, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the League of United Latin American Citizens have sent letters to congressional leaders in opposition to the proposal. NAACP Director Hilary Shelton in a March 14 letter wrote that the proposal would have a negative effect on the large number of low-income and minority Medicare beneficiaries who enroll in MA plans. He wrote, "Access to coordinated care and disease management services are especially critical to minorities who are more likely to suffer from common chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, respiratory disease and certain forms of cancer." In a separate letter, LULAC President Rosa Rosales wrote that the proposal would "threaten access to comprehensive benefits, result in higher out-of-pocket health care costs and create financial barriers to care that will be particularly harmful for Hispanic seniors." Some senators also have raised concerns about the proposal. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said, "There are a lot of blue states ... that have a lot of HMOs." Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, said, "More and more members of Congress are having the opportunity to see how cuts would impact their beneficiaries."
Some Support
However, House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) in a memo to House Democrats wrote that elimination of the proposal would complicate efforts to expand SCHIP or increase coverage under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. In addition, Stark wrote that the private health insurers are "more worried about profits than patients" and that Medicare could find "less costly and more efficient ways" to provide benefits than MA plans (Espo, AP/Long Island Newsday, 4/15).