CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), along with U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), led a bipartisan group of 57 senators in a letter to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), expressing their continued support of the Medicare Advantage (MA) program.

“We write to express our bipartisan support for the Medicare Advantage program and the health care coverage it provides to over 32 million seniors and individuals with disabilities,” the senators wrote. “We appreciate your ongoing commitment to ensuring that the Medicare Advantage program meets the health care needs of all beneficiaries while improving the quality and long-term stability of the Medicare program… As the Administration considers updates for plan year 2025, we request that you ensure payment and policy stability for the Medicare Advantage program, to protect and strengthen this critical choice for current and future Medicare beneficiaries.”

“Looking to the future, we believe that every American eligible for Medicare should receive clear, accurate, and timely information about the cost and quality of their coverage options. We look forward to working with you to combat predatory and deceptive marketing practices, improve the accuracy of provider directories, and increase transparency of plan performance to help consumers and taxpayers better assess value,” the senators continued.

BACKGROUND:

Each year, CMS releases payment and policy updates to the MA program. The senators’ letter urges the administration to ensure stability for the MA program, move forward with ongoing reforms to address predatory marketing practices, and encourage plan performance transparency to help consumers better assess value in the MA program. 

Senator Capito has been a longtime supporter of the MA program and making sure West Virginians can access it. In West Virginia, 49% of all Medicare recipients are enrolled in the Medicare Advantage program.

Full text of the letter can be found here or below.

Dear Administrator Brooks-LaSure:

We write to express our bipartisan support for the Medicare Advantage program and the health care coverage it provides to over 32 million seniors and individuals with disabilities. The number of Americans who choose Medicare Advantage continues to grow each year, and Medicare Advantage now serves over half of all individuals eligible for Medicare. We appreciate your ongoing commitment to ensuring that the Medicare Advantage program meets the health care needs of all beneficiaries while improving the quality and long-term stability of the Medicare program. Further, we recognize recent efforts by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to address quality, payment, marketing practices, and access to care, and appreciate the Agency’s decision to phase in certain policy changes finalized in the 2024 Announcement. As the Administration considers updates for plan year 2025, we request that you ensure payment and policy stability for the Medicare Advantage program, to protect and strengthen this critical choice for current and future Medicare beneficiaries.

Medicare Advantage plans offer enrollees a cap on out-of-pocket expenses and extra benefits not available under traditional Medicare, including vision, hearing, and dental coverage. Enrollees often choose Medicare Advantage for savings on premiums and cost-sharing. In 2023, nearly 75 percent of seniors enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan with Part D prescription drug coverage paid no additional premium. Compared with traditional Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare Advantage enrollees are more likely to live on less than $20,000 per year. That is why seniors and individuals with disabilities must continue to have stable access to the extra benefits and out-of-pocket protections only available in Medicare Advantage.

The Medicare Advantage program allows plans to focus on prevention and care coordination, resulting in better health outcomes. Additionally, the program supports an increasingly diverse population with varied health and socioeconomic backgrounds, including a growing number of Americans in minority and rural communities. In addition, the design of the Medicare Advantage program enables plans to address health-related social needs of such populations like food insecurity or lack of transportation, enhance the focus on primary care, and provide access to telehealth services and in-home care.

Looking to the future, we believe that every American eligible for Medicare should receive clear, accurate, and timely information about the cost and quality of their coverage options. We look forward to working with you to combat predatory and deceptive marketing practices, improve the accuracy of provider directories, and increase transparency of plan performance to help consumers and taxpayers better assess value. Collectively, these efforts will help to ensure that beneficiaries are choosing the Medicare plan that best fits their health and budget needs. We urge CMS to look at meaningful ways to continue to sustain and strengthen Medicare Advantage to protect beneficiaries’ affordability and access while improving transparency and building on the unique attributes of this important program.

We are committed to our more than 32 million constituents across the United States who choose Medicare Advantage. We ask that the Administration consider the ongoing implementation of program reforms finalized last year and provide stability for the Medicare Advantage program in 2025. We look forward to partnering with you to ensure that, through Medicare Advantage, tens of millions of older and disabled Americans have access to comprehensive, affordable Medicare coverage choices.

Sincerely,

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