Proposed Medicare Advantage Rate Hikes For 2020 Well Below What Plans Received In 2019
CMS is also giving Medicare Advantage plans more flexibility to cover benefits that will improve health for the chronically ill, thanks to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.
Modern Healthcare:
Medicare Advantage Plans See Smaller Rate Hikes For 2020
The CMS on Thursday proposed increasing the baseline Medicare Advantage payment rates for 2020 by 1.59%, well below the 3.4% rate hike plans received in 2019. The agency also outlined changes to the program to address the opioid crisis, including encouraging Medicare Advantage plans to offer targeted benefits and cost-sharing reductions to patients with chronic pain or undergoing addiction treatment. (King, 1/30)
Politico Pro:
Boom Times For Medicare Advantage As Rate-Setting Season Kicks Off
Insurers this week will learn how much the Trump administration intends to pay them to cover Medicare beneficiaries in 2020. The expected release of the Medicare Advantage rate notice will kick off a two-month lobbying frenzy by health plans intent on beating back policy changes to the roughly $200 billion program they find undesirable. (Demko, 1/30)
In other news from the Trump administration —
Modern Healthcare:
Stark, Anti-Kickback Rulemaking Underway At HHS
HHS is ramping up its work to overhaul Stark Law and anti-kickback regulations in what HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan characterized as a "sprint" to reform rules as part of the shift toward paying for value. The department hopes to have a notice of proposed rulemaking out on both Stark Law reform and new health system exceptions for the anti-kickback statute this year in what observers expect will be a long regulatory process. (Luthi, 1/30)
