Medicare

• Medicare to Pay for Home Covid Tests

  February 04, 2022: On Thursday the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced plans to make over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests available to people with Medicare at no cost by “early spring.” CMS's initial OTC testing policy applied to privat...Read more >

• Retirees Applaud HHS Secretary Becerra’s Directive that CMS Reconsider 14% 2022 Medicare Premium Hike

  January 10, 2022: Statement by Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, regarding reports that Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has ordered the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (C...Read more >

• Senate Republicans and Chamber of Commerce Double Down on Opposition to the Build Back Better Act

  December 21, 2021: Last week, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (NY) said that a Senate vote on the Build Back Better Act will not happen this year. The House-passed version of Build Back Better would provide guaranteed hearing care for all Medicare beneficiari...Read more >

• Medicare Beneficiaries’ Telehealth Visits Increased 63-Fold in 2020

  December 13, 2021: When the COVID-19 pandemic prevented many Medicare recipients from going to their in-person routine medical appointments, the Medicare program responded in 2020 by offering temporary waivers to increase telehealth visits. Those waivers expanded teleh...Read more >

• Medicare Premiums to Take a Big Bite out of Social Security’s 5.9% COLA in 2022

  November 22, 2021: The standard monthly Medicare Part B premium in 2022 will rise to $170.10 from $148.50 in 2021 – a 14.55% jump and more than double what had been expected. A Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) official told CNN that $10 of the $21....Read more >

• House Passes Historic Build Back Act that Lowers Drug Prices, Funds Home Care and Hearing Aids

  November 22, 2021: The House voted 220-213 to pass the Build Back Better Act, H.R. 5376, Friday morning, sending President Biden’s sweeping plan to invest in middle class families and expand long-awaited social programs to the U.S. Senate. The bill contains numerous ...Read more >

• Build Back Better Act Clears Procedural Vote in House, Awaits Next Steps

  November 15, 2021: Following the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill on Friday, November 5, Democrats in Congress passed a key procedural vote to set up eventual passage of the Build Back Better Act, H.R. 5376, as they worked toward securing commitments from ...Read more >

• Democrats Plan to Expand Medicare Hearing Benefits. What Can Consumers Expect?

  November 05, 2021: President Joe Biden’s mammoth domestic spending bill would add hearing benefits to the traditional Medicare program — one of three major new benefits Democrats had sought. The Biden administration appears to have fallen short of its ambition t...Read more >

• President Biden Unveils Framework for Build Back Better Bill

  November 01, 2021: On Thursday, President Biden travelled to the Capitol to present a new outline of a framework of a broad legislative package that will provide support to millions of American families. Congress and the White House have spent weeks hammering out a dea...Read more >

• KHN: Medicare Punishes 2,499 Hospitals for High Readmissions

  October 29, 2021: The federal government’s effort to penalize hospitals for excessive patient readmissions is ending its first decade with Medicare cutting payments to nearly half the nation’s hospitals. In its 10th annual round of penalties, Medicare is reduci...Read more >