Reps. Guthrie, Cardenas, Paulsen, Blumenauer Lead Effort to Secure Medicare Advantage

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 -- Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Kentucky, issued the following news release:

Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), along with Congressmen Tony Cardenas (CA-29), Erik Paulsen (MN-03), and Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), today wrote to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to urge support for the Medicare Advantage program, which provides care to nearly 19 million seniors and individuals with disabilities.

The Medicare Advantage program offers a variety of individually tailored insurance plans operated by private companies to supplement traditional Medicare benefits. The program offers additional choices for Medicare beneficiaries to receive high-quality, customized care at affordable prices.

"Medicare Advantage is improving health care for today's seniors and building a strong foundation for tomorrow, as 10,000 new seniors become Medicare-eligible each day," wrote Guthrie, Cardenas, Paulsen, and Blumenauer. "Some examples of ways the Medicare Advantage program helps improve health care for seniors include the offering of individually-targeted programs to prevent falls, transportation to primary care visits, and in-home nursing visits."

They continued, "Medicare Advantage provides an affordable, high-quality option by including care coordination, disease management programs, out-of-pocket spending limits, access to community based programs, and additional supplemental benefits--such as vision and dental coverage, and often prescription drug coverage.

As the Administration looks at updates to Medicare Advantage for 2019, the program is well positioned to help improve the overall Medicare program by offering high-quality, efficient, patient-centered coverage options for beneficiaries."

See below for the full text of the letter, which was signed by 298 members of the House. Click here to view the signed letter (https://guthrie.house.gov/uploads/020118%20Medicare%20Advantage%20Letter.pdf).

February 1, 2018

Seema Verma, MPH

Administrator

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Department of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room 445-G

Washington, DC 20201

Dear Administrator Verma:

We write to express our strong support for the Medicare Advantage program and the high-quality care it provides to nearly 19 million seniors and individuals with disabilities. With over 90 percent of beneficiaries reporting high satisfaction with Medicare Advantage, we encourage the Administration to further strengthen and enhance the Medicare Advantage program.

Medicare Advantage is improving health care for today's seniors and building a strong foundation for tomorrow, as 10,000 new seniors become Medicare-eligible each day. Some examples of ways the Medicare Advantage program helps improve health care for seniors include the offering of individually-targeted programs to prevent falls, transportation to primary care visits, and in-home nursing visits.

Millions of our constituents depend on Medicare Advantage to provide comprehensive, affordable health care as they age. Medicare Advantage provides an affordable, high-quality option by including care coordination, disease management programs, out-of-pocket spending limits, access to community based programs, and additional supplemental benefits--such as vision and dental coverage, and often prescription drug coverage.

As the Administration looks at updates to Medicare Advantage for 2019, the program is well positioned to help improve the overall Medicare program by offering high-quality, efficient, patient-centered coverage options for beneficiaries. In order to preserve and extend Medicare Advantage's positive impact on seniors' health, we urge the agency to ensure that any changes that could significantly impact the program are proposed and considered in a manner that ensures comprehensive stakeholder engagement, robust transparency, and sufficient time for thorough evaluation. We believe this approach will best ensure our constituents continue to have access to innovative, high-quality Medicare Advantage plans.

We look forward to further strengthening and improving the Medicare Advantage program so that our constituents have access to comprehensive, affordable health coverage choices now and in the future.

Sincerely,

BRETT GUTHRIE

TONY CARDENAS

ERIK PAULSEN

EARL BLUMENAUER