MA Stakeholders: Advance Notice Will Hinder Health Equity Efforts

Several insurers and provider groups on Monday (March 27) said CMS should delay proposals to revamp the Medicare Advantage risk model’s Hierarchical Condition Codes, and alleged the advance notice’s proposals run counter to the agency’s sweeping efforts to improve health equity for underserved populations because they could spur supplemental benefit cuts and decrease access to medically necessary care. But HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra recently called stakeholders’ warnings about cuts to Medicare benefits misleading , and CMS Administrator Brooks-LaSure in mid-March...