Tag Archives for Howard Bedlin

Cicilline to Reintroduce Resolution to Reestablish House Aging Committee

Published in the Woonsocket Call on November 18, 2018

In October 1992, the House eliminated the House Permanent Select Committee on Aging charged with investigating and putting a spotlight on aging policy. The Committee was instrumental in conducting research and publishing a number of reports on elder abuse, leading to the passage of reform legislation intended to improve nursing home operations and reduce abuse against patients. The Committee’s work also led to increased home care benefits for the aging, establishing research and care centers for Alzheimer’s Disease, and many other accomplishments on a broad array of aging issues.

Over 26 years later, on March 1, 2016, Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced his House resolution 160 to reestablish the Committee. He would attract Rhode Island Congressman James R. Langevin (D-RI) and 23 other cosigners (no Republicans) out of 435 lawmakers, but would ultimately see no legislative action taken. “I discussed this proposal with Speaker Paul Ryan (R- WI) and followed up with a letter asking him to move forward with this idea, but he declined to do so.”

“I think many of my Democratic colleagues didn’t think this resolution would get much traction with a Republican controlled House, but we did get Seniors Task Force Co-Chairs, Reps. Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), which was important,” says the Rhode Island Congressman.

A New Opportunity with a House Democratic Majority

With a Republican-controlled Congress successfully blocking Cicilline’s simple resolution from reaching the floor for a vote, the Democratic lawmaker says he will reintroduce House resolution 160 in the new Congress with the Democrats controlling the chamber’s legislative agenda. “With Democrats in the majority, I think there will be more interest from other members in this resolution,” he says, noting, “We will try to make this a bipartisan effort and hope to find Republicans who would be supportive.

“I will first reintroduce the resolution [in the new Congress] and build support from members and then present the proposal to my House leadership. We will try to make this a bipartisan effort and hope to find Republicans who would be supportive,” says Cicilline, noting that he will reach out to aging groups for support, including the Leadership Council on Aging Organizations, whose leadership includes Alliance for Retired Americans, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and AARP.

“Of course, I would be honored to lead the reestablished House Permanent Select Committee on Aging, but that decision will be made by the incoming Speaker,” says Cicilline.

According to Cicilline, the House can readily create an ad hoc (temporary) select committee by approving a simple resolution that contains language establishing the committee—giving a purpose, defining membership, and detailing other aspects. Funding would be up to the Appropriations Committee. Salaries and expenses of standing committees, special and select, are authorized through the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill.

Cicilline says that a newly established House Permanent Select Committee on Aging would be charged to conduct comprehensive studies on aging policy issues, funding priorities and trends. As its predecessor, its efforts would not be limited by narrow jurisdictional boundaries of the standing committee but broadly at targeted aging policy issues.

“Our nation’s seniors deserve dedicated attention by lawmakers to consider the legislative priorities that affect them, including strengthening Social Security and Medicare, reducing the costs of prescription drugs, and the particular challenges of poverty, housing, long-term care, and other important issues,” adds Cicilline.

Aging Advocates Call for Reestablishing the House Select Committee on Aging

When Max Richtman, CEO and President of the Washington, D.C-based National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM), and former Staff Director of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, heard of Cicilline’s efforts to bring back the House Select Committee on Aging almost three years ago, he remarked, “It’s long overdue.” The Select Committee will once again provide serious oversight and lay the ground work for House legislative proposals impacting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, he said.

Richtman says that NCPSSM has just joined a working group to push for the reestablishment of the House Permanent Select Committee on Aging spearheaded by Howard Bedlin of the National Council on Aging. This group will devise strategies to resurrect the Committee, adds Richtman.

Richard Fiesta, Executive Director at the Alliance for Retired Americans, whose organization chairs the LCAO, representing over 70 aging groups, says that its membership voted this month to support and push for the reestablishment of the House Select Committee on Aging. “Members during the discussion expressed views that the Committee can be a focal point on aging issues such as such as Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, long term care, and prescription drug prices,” says Fiesta, noting that it could provide important oversight on the U.S. Administration of Aging programs and be a forum for emerging issues such as home care needs.

“With 10,000 American turning age 65 each day, a Select Committee on Aging would be an important step in addressing the needs of older Americans,” says Fiesta.

Bill Benson, a former staff director of the Subcommittee on Housing and Consumer Interests, one of the four subcommittees of the House Select Committee on Aging, concurs with Richtman that the establishing the Committee is “long overdue.”

“During the 26 years we’ve been without the House counterpart to the Senate Special Committee on Aging,” which Benson also served on, “the House has not had an equivalent powerful voice for advancing critical issues for an aging society as we’ve had in the Senate. To successfully improve national policy requires both chambers of the Congress to be fully engaged. Restoring the House Select Committee on Aging would be important to do that.”

Howard Bedlin, National Council on Aging Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy, adds: “A House Select Committee on Aging will raise visibility of the challenges older Americans are facing every day and support the work of authorizing committees to craft bipartisan policy solutions. Aging is an issue for all Americans. Discussion about the systemic strains that come with longevity and a growing aging population, or highlighting the many intergenerational needs of families across the country can only lead to better understanding and ultimately better support for all Americans as we age.”

Taking an Important Step to Protecting Seniors

As Cicilline gears up to put together the bipartisan support to pass his reintroduced to reestablish the House Permanent Select Committee on Aging, he says, “Overall, this resolution represents an important step towards protecting our seniors and the benefits they have earned, like Social Security and Medicare.”

“The reestablishment of this Select Committee on Aging would emphasize Congress’ commitment to our current and future seniors and would allow us to focus our energy to ensure that they are able to live with dignity and enjoy a high quality of life,” he adds.

A Washington insider tells me that some Democratic House lawmakers and aging groups are now pushing to reestablish the House Select Committee on Aging through new rules enacted by the incoming House Democratic leadership. The Washington, DC-based LCAO can now play a pivotal role in reestablishing the House Select Committee by advocating for and supporting Cicilline’s resolution that will be introduced in the next Congress or backing the attempt to change House rules. As the House takes up in the new Congress its debates on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the Older Americans Act, and other issues of importance to older adults, it will be important to have a House Select Committee that once again puts the spotlight and attention on America’s aging issues.

Report highlights major flaws, calls for improvements in Medicare Plan Finder

Published in Pawtucket TImes on July 23, 2018

July 23, 2018 | Times, The (Pawtucket, RI)

When shopping around for the best Medicare coverage options in fee-to-service and Medicare Parts C and D, beneficiaries are often told they can rely on the Medicare Plan Finder (MPF) to provide the needed information to compare and choose the plan that best meets their needs. But, a recently released report, co-authored by the Clear Choices Campaign, a health care cost transparency initiative of the Council for Affordable Health Coverage, and the nonprofit National Council on Aging (NCOA), charges that the federal government’s online tool may not be delivering on that promise. “MPF is in the need for significant reform,” advises the report.

MPF Tool Needs a Complete Overhaul

While the 46-page report acknowledges MPF’s “wealth of unbiased information,” it warns that “the status quo is not acceptable, and that a re-tooling of MPF’s plan comparison features and enrollment functions is essential.” “The site is overwhelming, information is poorly presented, and the user design is potentially misleading – all of which confuses beneficiaries and can contribute to many making poor plan selections. Two of the biggest shortcomings are out-of-pocket cost information is difficult to understand and provider directories are difficult to navigate,” concludes the report.

The report’s scorecard gives the MPF “A” grades only for its anonymous browsing capabilities and non-English translation services., but MPF earned “D” or “F” grades in seven other criteria (specifically, Customized Plan Information, Highlights Supplemental Benefits, Integrated Provider Directory, Layout, Access to Human support).

“Modernizing Medicare Plan Finder: Evaluating and Improving Medicare’s Online Comparison Shopping Experience,” released on April 25, 2018, is the result of the first-ever independent stakeholder assessment of MPF. Along with the scorecard rating 12 criteria, the report highlights the evaluation findings and provides specific recommendations to improve MPF.

For its analysis, Clear Choices and NCOA staff undertook a detailed review of all online MPF functions, conducted 25 interviews with Medicare beneficiaries, and surveyed Medicare State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) directors, who routinely use the tool in assisting millions of Medicare beneficiaries. The findings highlight a number of MPF challenges for beneficiaries, ranging from the unavailability of human support, to language that is unfamiliar to the typical consumer, to confusing out-of-pocket cost estimates.

“In order for competition to work in the increasingly complex Medicare program, beneficiaries must be well-informed and have consumer-friendly tools available to make wise plan choices,” said Howard Bedlin, NCOA’s Vice President of Policy and Advocacy. “I sat with seniors and talked with them while they struggled to use the Plan Finder and I can assure you, this is clearly not the case today. This report includes 11 key and 25 detailed recommendations for making this goal a reality, and ensuring that every beneficiary has access to the information they need to make the best Medicare decision for their situation. NCOA, and the diverse groups and thought leaders who contributed to this report stand ready to help make it happen.”

Joel White, Clear Choice’s president, says “our members know that transparency is key to unlocking greater competition and to ultimately drive down healthcare costs.”

Markets respond when consumers are empowered to make informed decisions by using tools to compare their options, he says.

“Sadly, in this case, a tool designed to help beneficiaries better understand their choices is failing in its mission and adding to the confusion and opaqueness that typifies too many Americans’ healthcare experience. We must fundamentally re-imagine how MPF delivers information to consumers and, ultimately, have an honest conversation about whether beneficiaries would not be better served by the private sector,” adds White.

“Medicare beneficiaries need to be able to understand and compare their Medicare options so they can choose the plan that is best for them. We hope that CMS will implement the recommendations in the report in order to improve MPF’s consumer-facing features,” says Karin Bolte, senior director of health policy, National Consumers League,

Creating a Better Online Consumer Tool

The report includes 11 key and 25 detailed recommendations that NCOA and Clear Choices believe will improve the Medicare Plan Finder and ensure that every beneficiary has access to the information they need to make the best Medicare decision for their situation.

These include:

• Displaying costs with decision and prominence

• Basing estimated out-of-pocket costs on more detailed information

• Integrating a provider directory

• Utilizing saved information about consumers’ drugs

• Allowing consumers to compare Medicare Advantage plans with an equivalent combination of fee-for-service, Medigap, and standalone drug plans

• Redesigning the layout and display to enhance usability and promote intuitive navigation

• Replacing insurance jargon with graphics, charts, and plain language

• Integrating a web chat feature

• Enabling the website to suggest plan options

• Contracting to ensure more stringent oversight of MPF’s accuracy

• Testing the site with consumers on a regular basis

With 10,000 Baby Boomers enrolling in Medicare every day, its crucial for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to closely review the “Modernizing Medicare Plan Finder” report’s recommendations and make appropriate changes for this online tool to remain relevant. To access the report, go to http://www.ncoa.org/wp-content/uploads/CC-2018-MedicarePF- Report-Final-0418.pdf.