HIAA Praises Bush Proposal To Increase Reimbursements for M+C Plans
The Health Insurance Association of America on Feb. 8 said that President Bush's plan to increase Medicare+Choice reimbursements by $3.7 billion between fiscal years 2003 and 2005, part of his FY 2003 budget proposal, would help prevent health plans from "pulling out" of the program and may "encourage new plans to participate," CongressDaily reports. Responding to some Democrats' claims that Medicare+Choice has been a failure, HIAA President Donald Young said, "I don't think the program is in a place of imminent death." He added that "new incentives" to allow preferred provider organizations to participate in Medicare+Choice "without subjecting them to the same restrictions" as managed care plans may help "revive" the program. Health plans that participate in Medicare+Choice "for years have complained about inflexible regulations and low payments." Over the past four years, 374 health plans have withdrawn from the program, according to CMS (Fulton, CongressDaily, 2/8). In 2002, 58 health plans said they would withdraw from Medicare+Choice or reduce services, leaving about 536,000 beneficiaries looking for alternative coverage (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/24/01).
2002 Agenda
HIAA this year plans to lobby Congress to expand private insurance coverage for the uninsured, provide a tax reduction for long-term care, prevent passage of patients' rights legislation, stop "overreaching" genetic testing requirements and stop legislation that would expand mental health coverage requirements. Meanwhile, the American Health Care Association, which represents long-term care facilities, on Feb. 8 urged Congress to address reductions in Medicare and Medicaid that affect that industry. "I don't believe we've had the debate we need on these issues," AHCA President and CEO Charles Roadman said, adding, "We need to have a long-term care strategy so we can develop a good program" (CongressDaily, 2/8).
