Chiquita Brooks-La Sure testified in front of the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, April 15, 2021 at a nomination hearing to be the administrator of the Medicare & Medicaid Service Center in Washington.
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In his first year as an administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Chiquita Brooks-Lasure expanded government health insurance to a record number of Americans under the Medicare, Medicaid, and private AffordableCareAct exchange programs. I supervised it.
Now she wants Keep insuring themAnd expand access to services for women.
“We cover more than 150 million people as a result of all the hard work of the agency that actually enrolls people in coverage. Therefore, we are a huge payer and in this country. It helps determine coverage … and there is a strong opportunity to advance health inequalities. “
Over the next year, one of the agency’s biggest challenges will be to ensure a smooth transition of millions of Medicaid members who may lose coverage in the event of a Covid public health emergency. That is. Under a federal health emergency, the state has withheld eligibility re-determinations for the past two years.
Loss of coverage
The government plans to renew the emergency designation as of next month, but according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, 5 to 14 million people could be unregistered if the re-decision resumes.
Brooks-Lasure, the health insurance company that manages the state’s Medicaid program, plays an important role in helping people who are disqualified from a private exchange health plan or transition to Medicaid at age 65. It states.
“We are participating in more plans than, for example, 10 years ago, especially in Medicaid coverage, so these make us, that is, we mean the state, people of all types. It’s an important factor in ensuring that they move, in the press they are eligible for, “she said.
She wants health insurance to be more consistent across public and private programs, beyond public health emergencies.
“Is it talking about maternal health or are you in the middle of cancer treatment … you don’t have to worry about changes in your coverage, you just want to stay focused on the condition itself,” she said. Said.
contraception
Brooks-Lasure, in a new report outlining agency priorities, states that addressing health inequalities is a central pillar of the agency’s mission. The focus is on improving maternal health insurance. The Medicaid program currently covers 40% of births in the United States. Funded by the US Rescue Planning Act passed in 2021, the agency is working with the state to expand Medicaid coverage for new uninsured mothers from 60 days to 12 months.
When it comes to assisted reproductive technology, Brooks-Lasure said the CMS will also prioritize improving access to contraception in Medicaid and ACA health insurance over the next year. As expected this month, if the Supreme Court overturns the Roe v. Wade case, federal funding rules will limit the ability of institutions to provide Medicaid women with access to abortion.
Brooks-Lasure said the agency is focused on areas of authority, such as preventive care and contraception. She said the CMS encouraged the state to use Medicaid to give men and women access to contraception “in the light of the Supreme Court’s decision on a wider range of services.”
Medicare Premium Rollback
One of the biggest decisions issued by the CMS this year was to limit the scope of Medicare for the Alzheimer’s disease treatment Aducanumab after mixed data on drug efficacy. However, this move took place after actuaries took into account the high cost of medicines expected for 2022 Medicare premiums. Medicare beneficiaries can expect a rollback in 2023.
“We plan to include it in next year’s premium due to its low coverage,” says Brooks Louger.
Medicare beneficiaries can also significantly reduce their drug planning premiums by introducing several biosimilar versions of AbbVie’s expensive arthritis treatment, Humira, next year. Humira’s sales exceeded $ 20 billion in 2021. Amgen’s biosimilar version will first be launched in the United States in January.
Brooks-Lasure said the CMS actuary has calculated the potential impact of the transition to Humira biosimilars and will publish an analysis in early September in time for the 2023 premium setting. Said.
