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Congressional Dems Ask HHS To Limit 2011 MA Rate Hikes
The battle by congressional Democrats to limit the damage from major cuts imposed through the health care reform law to the politically popular Medicare Advantage program has started.

In a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services Friday, the leaders of the House and Senate committees who wrote the law are asking that the department do what it can to protect seniors from unwarranted rate hikes and high out-of-pocket costs in the program for 2011.

“Health care reform strengthened Medicare and made Medicare Advantage more competitive, but it is critical that we don’t let private insurance companies use these changes as an excuse to raise premiums or cut benefits for seniors to bolster their own bottom line,” said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

“The Affordable Care Act increases the authority vested in the secretary to hold MA (Medicare Advantage) plans accountable for their bid submissions,” the letter said. “Using this authority, we expect the secretary and officials at CMS [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] to ensure that the bid proposals are accurate, merit approval, and are not discriminatory in benefit design or relative to plan payments.”

Under the new law, federal payments to the Medicare Advantage plans would be cut by about $136 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

But, an official of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the cuts will not start until 2012 and the payment levels for the 2011 year will remain as this year.

Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), said in a statement, “Washington can’t slash $200 billion out of Medicare Advantage and then try to shift the blame to the health plans that administer the program when those cuts inevitably result in higher premiums and benefit reductions for seniors.”...