CMS has announced that payments to Medicare Advantage plans will increase by 0.4% in 2015. This is a reversal of proposed cuts that were opposed by Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
Had the proposed cuts taken place, there might have been big changes for the 16 million people enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans around the country. In Arizona, most of our Medicare Advantage plans are $0 premium and this might have changed if payments to the insurance companies that run them were reduced.
Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.), who had spoken out about his opposition to the cuts, said, “It’s a program people really like” and “they didn’t want to see it messed with and neither did I.” He added, “It appears the administration listened” (Wilde Mathews/Peterson, Wall Street Journal, 4/7). Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who led an effort against the cuts, said, “We’re glad the administration heeded our call and reversed the policy” (“Wonkblog,” Washington Post, 4/7).