WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema and a bipartisan group of senators called on the administration to strengthen and support Medicare Advantage. The senators urged the administration to continue implementing policies that improve Medicare Advantage benefits for the 22 million seniors, and the 530,000 Arizonans, enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.
“Protecting and strengthening Medicare Advantage ensures the hundreds of thousands of Arizona seniors who are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans continue to have affordable access to the health care services they need and deserve,” said Sinema.
Over 37% of the Medicare-eligible population in Arizona opts to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan. The Senators wrote the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in support of MA plans and asked the agency to specifically propose policies that promote innovation, incentivize quality improvements, support value-based payments, and increase access to coverage by improving the beneficiary enrollment process. The Senators also asked CMS to work with stakeholders and implement new rules Congress previously passed allowing beneficiaries with End Stage Renal Disease to choose Medicare Advantage plans for the first time – offering this vulnerable population the care coordination, disease management, and innovative benefit design choices that other Medicare beneficiaries can choose from with MA plans.
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
