Democrats Look at Lowering Medicare Eligibility Age in Healthcare Package

Wall Street Journal/March 30, 2021, By Stephanie Armour and Kristina Peterson

WASHINGTON—Congressional Democrats and the Biden administration are planning another round of healthcare initiatives that could include lowering the Medicare eligibility age, following their major expansion of the Affordable Care Act this year.
 
Democrats are still negotiating over which healthcare policy elements could be in the second of two spending programs the administration plans to unveil soon, according to congressional aides and industry groups.
 
The package is likely to contain measures to reduce drug prices and expand health coverage, lawmakers said. Proposals to expand Medicare eligibility from age 65 to 60 and to enable the federal government to negotiate drug prices in the health program for seniors—both of which President Biden supported on the campaign trail—are also likely to be included.
 
“We should lower the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 down to 60. There are many millions of seniors who would be very, very grateful if we did that right now,” Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) said Monday. He also said he hoped to expand Medicare to cover dental care, hearing aids and eyeglasses, and to pay for those through savings from reduced drug prices for Medicare.
 
The healthcare proposals would face opposition from many Republicans and hospital groups, who say they could reduce the labor force because more people may retire early. Republicans also say they are reluctant to add to the nation’s $3 trillion budget deficit and that Medicare’s trust funds are already facing insolvency in coming years…

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CMS Holds Claims With Expectation Congress Will Avert Sequester Cuts

Inside Health Policy
By Michelle M. Stein / March 30, 2021 at 6:08 PM
 
CMS will hold Medicare claims “for a short period” after April 1 so that providers don’t see the 2% Medicare sequestration cuts go into effect before lawmakers take final action to extend the moratorium on those cuts.
 
“In anticipation of possible Congressional action to extend the 2% sequester reduction suspension, we instructed the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to hold all claims with dates of service on or after April 1, 2021, for a short period without affecting providers’ cash flow,” CMS said in a March 30 Medicare Learning Network announcement. “This will minimize the volume of claims the MACs must reprocess if Congress extends the suspension; the MACs will automatically reprocess any claims paid with the reduction applied if necessary.”
 
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Biden Jobs Plan Would Invest Billions In Care Economy, Grow Home Care

Inside Health Policy
By Maya Goldman / March 31, 2021 at 5:00 AM
 
President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan would extend the Money Follows the Person program to expand access to home- and community-based care, according to briefing notes released by the Biden administration Tuesday night (March 30). As of press time, the White House had not responded to questions about how long the extension would last.
 
The plan [unveiled by Biden Wednesday, March 31] would invest $400 billion in the so-called care economy. An administration official said the plan would reduce waitlists for home care, and, in doing so, create more jobs in the home care workforce.
 
One in six essential health care workers live in poverty, the official said. Biden’s plan would create more than 1 million new jobs in the care industry, and ensure those jobs pay well. The official did not specify whether all of those jobs would be in home care.
 
The official said the president’s team has been in touch with members of Congress to get feedback and figure out how to proceed but did not say that reconciliation has been identified as a way to push the plan through.

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Colorado Medicaid Home Health & Private Duty Nursing Increase Approved!