July 1, 2008
In this Issue …
1. Over 5 Million Still Haven't Filed for Stimulus Payment
2. Senate Falls Short on Medicare Improvements Bill
3. Food Stamp Increase Becomes Law
4. CMS Helps Medicare Beneficiaries, Providers Affected by Flooding
5. Dual Eligibles, Government Seek Court Approval on Part D Case Settlement
6. Officials Call for Social Security Numbers to be Removed from Medicare ID Cards
7. Medicare Advantage Plans Achieve Higher Profits than Expected
1. Over 5 Million Still Haven't Filed for Stimulus Payment
NCOA is urging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to immediately redouble its efforts to reach the 5.2 million people who are eligible for economic stimulus payments but have not yet filed.
The IRS announced that it has reached 13.6 million of the approximately 19 million individuals found eligible by the Social Security Administration and Veterans Administration, yet 26 percent still have not filed for the payment. With an Oct. 15 deadline, it is becoming increasingly urgent to reach these individuals.
The IRS is opening its offices on specific Saturdays and will send out another mailing to eligible people. NCOA is urging the IRS to make sure the mailings are carefully crafted to get the attention of seniors and veterans who have not yet filed and is recommending a national media campaign to reinforce the effort.
In March, NCOA and AARP unveiled a Web-based Stimulus Payment Tool that helps people understand their eligibility for the payment. After answering a few simple questions, individuals can print out the appropriate IRS form with the mailing address to get their stimulus payment.
Back to top
2. Senate Falls Short on Medicare Improvements Bill
Last week, the House overwhelmingly passed H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act. All Democrats present and 129 Republicans voted for the bill, which passed 355-59. However, later in the week, the Senate fell one vote short to pass a procedural hurdle to move forward on the bill.
The legislation would have addressed the 10.6 percent cut to Medicare physicians, which is scheduled to take effect today. It also included direct beneficiary improvements, such as strengthening low-income protections against rising Medicare costs, expanding coverage for preventive care, reducing copayments for mental health services, and strengthening managed care consumer protections. In addition, the bill would have extended the QI program (which pays Medicare part B premiums for eligible beneficiaries) which is scheduled to expire today.
Finance Committee Chairman Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Grassley (R-IA) are expected to work on a compromise Medicare bill over the next several weeks. NCOA and other senior groups will continue to advocate for low-income protections.
Back to top
3. Food Stamp Increase Becomes Law
Congress overrode President Bush's veto of the farm bill, so it has now become law. One provision important to seniors is an increase in the minimum food stamps benefit from $10 per month to $14 per month, the first such increase in more than 30 years. The vast majority of those who receive food stamps at the minimum level are seniors. The law makes dozens of other constructive changes in food stamps and also renames it the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Back to top
4. CMS Helps Medicare Beneficiaries, Providers Affected by Flooding
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking a number of measures to assist Medicare beneficiaries and providers affected by the severe flooding in Iowa and Indiana. For the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, CMS is waiving rules that prevent early refills to help beneficiaries who left prescriptions in evacuated homes or lost their medications during the evacuation. Beneficiaries in health plans also will be able to go out of network during this emergency, CMS said.
My Medicare Matters has posted all of the CMS information on the MyMedicareCommunity Web site for benefits professionals.
Back to top
5. Dual Eligibles, Government Seek Court Approval on Part D Case Settlement
A nationwide class of Medicare beneficiaries who are also eligible for Medicaid ("dual eligibles") and the Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS) have filed a formal settlement agreement in federal court in San Francisco. The parties have asked the court to approve the settlement, a process that is expected to take several months.
The case, Situ v. Leavitt, targets systemic problems encountered by the 6.2 million dual eligibles whose poverty qualifies them for the Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) and the corresponding nominal payments for their medications. Since dual eligibles rely on an average of 10 more prescription drugs per month than do other Medicare beneficiaries, the difficulties that they have encountered in obtaining their medications since Part D began have put them at severe, even life-threatening, risk, advocates say.
Under the settlement, the automatic enrollment process for new dual eligibles in Part D drug plans will be shortened, as states will submit relevant information to CMS on a more expedited basis, and CMS will process that information within one business day.
The new protocol also will require prescription drug plans and CMS regional offices to provide additional assistance to beneficiaries who do not show up as LIS-eligible on the pharmacy or plan computer systems. In addition, CMS is obligated to educate pharmacy organizations about new policies that increase protections for dual eligibles who are not automatically enrolled in a Part D drug plan and therefore are unable to obtain medications.
Back to top
6. Officials Call for Social Security Numbers to be Removed from Medicare ID Cards
Social Security Administration (SSA) officials are requesting that CMS issue Medicare beneficiaries new membership cards that do not include their Social Security numbers to address concerns of identity theft, the New York Times reports.
Most private insurers have removed Social Security numbers from their membership cards because many states forbid the inclusion of such information, the Times reports. SSA cannot prohibit CMS from including Social Security numbers on Medicare cards, but Congress could, according to the Times.
CMS Chief Operating Officer Charlene Frizzera said issuing new cards would be a "huge undertaking" and would require three years to plan the change and eight more years to completely reissue cards. She said that beneficiaries would be alarmed if the government began issuing new cards or changing individual identification numbers. "We don't want to scare them," she said.
Medicare officials estimate that issuing new identification numbers would require $500 million in computer changes. According to the Times, providers use the Social Security numbers to file claims with Medicare, which pays one billion claims annually.
In its report, SSA Inspector General Patrick O'Carroll said, "Displaying such information on Medicare cards unnecessarily places millions of individuals at risk for identity theft … We do not believe a federal agency should place more value on convenience than the security of its beneficiaries' personal information."
Back to top
7. Medicare Advantage Plans Achieve Higher Profits than Expected
Medicare Advantage (MA) plans earned about $1.14 billion more in profits in 2005 than they had projected, states a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
On average, MA organizations' actual medical expenditures as a percentage of revenue were lower in 2005 than they had projected, resulting in higher profit margins of about 5.1 percent of total revenue, GAO says. These inaccuracies may have had an adverse effect on beneficiaries enrolled in these plans, it adds.
"Although differences between projected and actual expenses and profits may not have affected Medicare payments to MA organizations, the inaccuracy of projections could have impacted the types and costs of services that MA beneficiaries received," the report states.
Benefits Alert is published by the National Council on Aging for members of the Access to Benefits Coalition. Jean Van Ryzin, Editor, jean.vanryzin@ncoa.org. Copyright © 2008. All content is copyrighted and must not be reproduced or distributed to others without written permission.
Back to top
