Good morning/afternoon, everyone,

 

I’d like to thank so many of you all (more than 50) who have filled out the survey regarding your thoughts on Parts C and D rule proposals for calendar year 2025. Given my need to have the survey close this Thursday, I previously sent out my request for your feedback during the open enrollment period. I’d like to send out another reminder now that the enrollment period has ended.

 

We would appreciate if you could share any of your thoughts with us regarding the various proposals. We ask your thoughts on broker compensation, for instance. We very much want to lift up your experiences talking to beneficiaries and share these with CMS.

 

Click here for the anonymous survey that will remain open until 5 PM EST on Thursday 12/14.

 

Thank you all,

 

Matthew

 

 

 

Hello, MIPPA grantees,

 

While we are still absorbing the changes to Medicare coming in 2024, please know that CMS recently issued a proposed rules that will impact Medicare beneficiaries starting in 2025.  On November 6, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding Medicare Parts C and D, among other topics.  CMS also issued a fact sheet summarizing the major provisions of the NPRM. On November 15, CMS issued the official, published version of that NPRM in the Federal Register. Comments are due no later than January 5, 2024.

 

NCOA would like to highlight grantee and beneficiary experiences yet again in our upcoming response to the proposed rulemaking to make our arguments. Amid the hard work you’re doing for the open enrollment period, NCOA is asking for your help with a survey on the Parts C and D programs. Similar to the survey NCOA sent out to the network last year, this survey provides an opportunity to speak directly to CMS about beneficiary experiences that are related to the new proposals. When we surveyed the network for the CY 2024 Parts C and D proposed rule, so many of you provided stories about beneficiary experiences that we used to great extent in our comment letter regarding the 2024 plan year. NCOA will again use your comments as much as possible.

 

Click here for the anonymous survey that will remain open from noon EST on Thursday 11/30 to 5 PM EST on Thursday 12/14.

 

Lifting up your stories is so important to NCOA.

 

Knowing that open enrollment ends in the middle of the survey period, I will send out a reminder email after the end of open enrollment on 12/8.

 

Some of the highlights of the CY 2025 proposed rule include proposals that would:

 

• Prohibit third-party marketing organization and plan contracts “that may interfere with the agent's or broker's ability to objectively assess and recommend the plan that best fits a beneficiary's health care needs; set a single compensation rate for all plans; revise the scope of items and services included within agent and broker compensation”;
• Establish greater transparency around supplemental benefits in Medicare Advantage;
• Require Medicare Advantage plans to conduct an equity evaluation of prior authorizations;
• Allow individuals dually eligible to enroll and disenroll into an integrated product once a month rather than quarterly and creating a new enrollment period to allow for the monthly enrollment;
• Limit the number of D-SNPs offering plans in the same service area;
• Limit broker compensation; and
• Limit out-of-pocket cost sharing for PPO D-SNPs;

 

The NPRM also includes an:

 

• RFI on how to make improvements to Medicare Plan Finder for D-SNPs

 

 

Thank you for any thoughts you can share in the survey!

 

Matthew

 

Matthew R. Hubbard, M.A.

Policy Analyst

202-577-1560

www.ncoa.org | @NCOAging

 

 

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