"If the goal of reform is to provide the best possible patient care, let's take the government-controlled 'public option' — and any legislative trick that could lead to a public option—off the table. It will result in long waiting lines to see a doctor, substandard care, and an end to medical discovery." We aren't among the doctors invited to a Rose Garden event today to "join the… Read more

Late last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) directed Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to discontinue any communications with their enrollees about the potential impact on beneficiaries of health reform proposals – paid for with massive cuts to the MA program.  According to CMS, those communications were “misleading and confusing.” Below are five statements about… Read more

President Obama and Congressional Democrats have repeatedly pledged to the American public that health care reform will not lead to rationing of health care services.  However, sometime after the bill was originally unveiled, House Democrats removed the prohibition on rationing care from the duties of the Health Benefits Advisory Committee, a government board tasked with recommending the… Read more

Medicare Advantage is a recently instituted federal program that allows individuals eligible for Medicare to opt to take their coverage from a private carrier, such as a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) of Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). These MA deals usually offer somewhat better coverage at a somewhat higher price. The entire program is meant to introduce competition into… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today requested the Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General (IG) open a formal investigation into the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) decision to slap a gag order on all Medicare Advantage (MA) health plans (except AARP, whom is spending millions of dollars to try to raise support for President… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) along with all Republican Ways and Means Members, sent Chairman Rangel a letter requesting a hearing on the growing controversy surrounding the gag order the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) placed on all Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. This order, placed earlier this week, states that plans cannot share… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today exposed a letter from the Clinton Administration clearly stating that private health care plans offering Medicare benefits have the right to inform their enrollees about pending legislation.  Earlier this week, however, CMS inexplicably reversed that long-standing policy by placing a gag order on Medicare Advantage… Read more

WASHINGTON — Congress' chief budget officer is contradicting President Barack Obama's oft-stated claim that seniors wouldn't see their Medicare benefits cut under a health care overhaul. The head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Douglas Elmendorf, told senators Tuesday that seniors in Medicare's managed care plans would see reduced benefits under a bill in the Finance… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today requested additional information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the growing controversy surrounding the agency’s gag order on private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, which prevents companies from sharing factual information with their enrollees. “I have never seen anything like this… Read more

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) blasted actions by the Obama Administration to silence critics of the President’s proposed Medicare cuts. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has initiated an investigation into at least one provider of a Medicare Advantage (MA) health care plan for informing its enrollees that Medicare cuts… Read more