Medicare: Protecting Seniors for 50 Years

Fifty years ago, the United States created the Medicare insurance program – which has significantly increased the affordability of health care for America’s seniors, as well as those with certain disabilities and medical conditions. Today, close to 55 million people are covered by Medicare, and 60 percent of Americans say the program is working well for most seniors.

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Medicare Data Is Informing Public Understanding of Health Care

The April release of Medicare’s vast trove of payment data has triggered a torrent of reports illustrating just how useful this data can be for patients and providers. While many of the articles have focused on how much Medicare pays doctors, the data have also provided valuable context for broader pieces on the state of American health care.

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Medicare Releases Data on Payments to Physicians

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services today released a trove of data on the agency's payments to physicians. This information has long been sought for its value in detecting and deterring fraud and waste.

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Medicare Announces It Will Publish Payment Data

In a major win for transparency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on April 2 that it will release physician reimbursement data. This data, previously kept confidential, contains information about how much the federal government pays to most Medicare providers. The data will not compromise or disclose any patient privacy information.

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Congress Puts Medicare Transparency on Back Burner

On March 31, Congress once again kicked the can down the road by passing its 17th temporary patch to Medicare's reimbursement rate. This one-year extension does not include a crucial transparency reform, proposed in previous Medicare bills this session, which would have required the release of Medicare's physician payment data. This missed opportunity means Medicare, one of the largest government programs, will continue to receive less oversight and accountability than other areas of federal spending.

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House Bill on Medicare Payment Transparency Undermined by Poison Pill Provision

On March 14, the House passed the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act (H.R. 4015), which includes provisions on Medicare data transparency. Among other things, the bill would require Medicare to publicly disclose data on reimbursements made to physicians while protecting patients' privacy. The legislation would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to release payment data on Physician Compare, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' online physician database. Unfortunately, the bill also contains a "poison pill" – the repeal of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate – rendering it unworkable in its current form.

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Is the Federal Government Failing to Save $67 Billion? Congress Should Look in the Mirror

Many members of Congress have taken to social media this week pushing a stat that says the federal government is failing to implement some 17,000 recommendations from inspectors general that could - in total - save an estimated $67 billion a year. The stat is based on a report issued by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last March.

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Medicare Spending Data May Be Publicly Available Under New Policy

On Jan. 14, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new policy that could bring greater transparency to Medicare, one of the largest programs in the federal government. CMS revoked its long-standing policy not to release publicly any information about Medicare’s payments to doctors. Under the new policy, the agency will evaluate requests for such information on a case-by-case basis. Although the impact of the change is not yet clear, it creates an opportunity for a welcome step forward for data transparency and open government.

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More Transparency Could Help Fight Fraud and Strengthen Medicare

On Sept. 5, the Center for Effective Government, along with 13 other organizations, filed comments calling for the disclosure of Medicare payments to medical providers. Releasing the amounts of Medicare funds paid to providers could help fight fraud and strengthen Medicare.

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Means-Testing Would Undermine the Medicare Program

President Obama has proposed increasing "means-testing" within the Medicare program as a way to reduce the federal budget deficit; in other words, higher-income seniors would pay more for their health care under the program. This is one of the worst ways to achieve savings through cuts to Medicare and could impose significant costs on middle-income seniors, reduce health care coverage, and undermine political support for the effective program.

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