I am so so happy to share that yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the final rate notice for Medicare Advantage insurers, and they held the line at 3.7%!
This signifies a big victory for our movement to reclaim medicare, and while it’s a little wonky, the details are important:
First, President Biden and CMS announced that they would increase payments to MA providers by 3.7%. Admittedly, this was an election year decision and we wish they announced something closer to 1%.
Then, despite this increase, the insurance industry called it a cut to Medicare — this is wholly untrue as they would receive $16 Billion dollars MORE than they will in 2024.
So, our organization and our allies sprung in to action encouraging President Biden to hold the line at 3.7%. We submitted over 25,000 comments to CMS, got over 30,000 signatures on our petition to President Biden, and reached millions of people by sharing Jenn Coffey’s story. This resulted in numerous articles and new stories about our effort.
At the same time, the insurance industry spent MILLIONS of dollars on ads in DC and lobbying efforts to try to get Biden to further increase payments for Medicare Advantage.
While they have piles of cash, we have people power! And so, as the deadline to make a decision loomed, the Biden Administration announced they would HOLD THE LINE at 3.7%!
One thing I’ve learned is that it’s never enough to get the right people into office—even when we have elected officials on our side, we have to relentlessly push them to do the right thing and stand against corporate greed. Today, we should relish in our victory in getting Biden to do the right thing despite enormous pressure from the insurance industry.
I want to highlight an article from Bloomberg titled “How Politics Caught Up to the Business of Medicare Advantage.”
WE are the ones driving this change — WE are the ones making a difference — WE are the ones who are making progress in our fight to Reclaim Medicare.
Please give yourself a big pat on the back if you joined us in asking President Biden to hold the line, and share this article with your friends and followers to make sure they know we are making a difference!
