Staying Fit
The following documents related to health care concerns of people 50-plus are presented in reverse chronological order.
December
C: On December 24, 2020 AARP sent a letter to The Honorable Seema Verma, Administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide comments on the state of New York’s Section 1115 Medicaid Redesign Team Waiver amendment on managed long-term care plan eligibility and voluntary mainstream enrollment for certain dual eligibles. AARP urged CMS to not approve the state’s proposed change on managed long-term care eligibility to ensure individuals retain access to needed benefits. In addition, AARP also urged improvements for individuals and their family caregivers in the proposed change regarding well dual eligibles. (PDF)
C: On December 30, 2020 AARP sent a letter to The Honorable Seema Verma, Administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide comments on the Proposed Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2022. AARP’s comments focus on proposed regulatory changes to State Innovation Waivers granted under Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). AARP has serious concerns that implementation of these proposed changes would lead to the erosion of the core consumer protections of the ACA. (PDF)
L: On December 14, 2020 AARP, along with 50 other organizations, sent a letter to congressional leadership encouraging them to include a permanent extension of the 7.5 percent threshold for the medical expense deduction as part of any end-of-year legislative package. The current extension expires on Dec. 31, 2020. With the added impact of an unprecedented public health emergency and unknown long term health impacts, this deduction is more important than ever. (PDF)
C: On December 2, 2020 AARP sent a letter to Secretary Alex Azar of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services providing comments on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding retrospective review of regulations promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services. AARP expressed concern that the current proposal is overbroad and not the best use of the Department’s limited resources. (PDF)
November
L: On November 17, 2020 AARP sent a letter to Stephen Hahn, MD, Commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration urging the Commissioner to publish regulations regarding over-the-counter hearing aids, as required by the Over the Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-52). The law required the Food and Drug Administration to propose regulations by August of this year. Continued delay in the release of these regulations further delays access to affordable treatment for millions of Americans with mild to moderate hearing loss. (PDF)
L: On November 17, 2020 AARP sent a letter to U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Patrick Toomey (R-PA) in support of the Nursing Home Reform Modernization Act of 2020 (S. 4866). This bill would expand the number of nursing homes in the Special Focus Facility (SFF) Program to identify and increase transparency around those facilities with a history of serious quality issues and ensure they receive more frequent inspections. The legislation also includes vital consumer protections to help ensure appropriate oversight and accountability for nursing homes and requires consumer participation in an Advisory Council examining processes for ranking nursing homes prior to the establishment of such a ranking system. (PDF)
C: On November 12, 2020 AARP sent a letter to Seema Verma, Administrator for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) providing comments on a request for information pertaining to Recommended Measure Set for Medicaid-Funded Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). AARP’s comments focus on the importance of family caregivers, HCBS, principles for HCBS quality measures, and respond to some of the specific questions CMS poses. The comments are from the perspective of older adults who may or do use HCBS (Medicaid or not) and their family caregivers. (PDF)
October
C: On October 27, 2020 AARP submitted a letter to Administrator Seema Verma of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services providing comments on “Medicare and Medicaid Programs, Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Additional Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID– 19 Public Health Emergency.” AARP’s comments focus on several issues and areas to improve the response to COVID-19, including enforcement requirements for nursing home data collection and reporting, limitations on COVID-19 testing without an order, and nursing home testing requirements. (PDF)
L: On October 5, 2020 AARP sent a letter to U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Todd Young (R-IN) endorsing the Informing Grandfamilies Act (S.4747) that will help support grandparents and other kinship caregivers. The Informing Grandfamilies Act would help provide kinship caregivers with information about available benefits and services, which can go a long way toward helping not only the caregivers, but the children as well. (PDF)
L: On October 5, 2020 AARP sent a letter the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) concerning a draft recommendation on Hearing Loss in Older Adults. AARP noted that the USPSTF was unable to make a recommendation for screening of asymptomatic older adults for hearing loss due to insufficient evidence. Although present research may not paint a complete picture of benefits and harms associated with early detection screening, AARP continues to believe that easily accessible and affordable hearing screening is a net-positive for older adults. (PDF)
C: On October 5, 2020 AARP sent a letter to Administrator Seema Verma of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services providing comments on the Proposed CY 2021 Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment Policies; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; etc. The comments focus on the changes that CMS made administratively related to telehealth in response to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). (PDF)
August
C: On August 11, 2020 AARP submitted written comments to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma concerning a proposed rule for Medicare payment to home health agencies (HHAs) under the home health prospective payment system (PPS) in 2021. AARP’s comments focus on monitoring the impact of the new Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) that was implemented in 2020; use of technology under the Medicare home health benefit; the home infusion therapy benefit; assessing pain management under the Home Health Quality Reporting Program; and COVID-19 reporting by HHAs. (PDF)
July
L: On July 29, 2020 AARP sent a letter to Chairwoman Susan Collins and Ranking Member Bob Casey of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging providing a statement for the hearing “The COVID-19 Pandemic and Seniors: A Look at Racial Health Disparities.” While the COVID-19 virus can affect people of all races and ethnicities, there is a striking divide in how the pandemic has affected people by race across the country, broadly reflecting historical injustices. (PDF)
C: On July 20, 2020 AARP sent a letter to Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Administrator Seema Verma providing comments on a proposed rule establishing minimum standards in Medicaid state Drug Utilization Review (DUR) and supporting Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) for drugs covered in Medicaid, revising Medicaid drug rebate and Third-Party Liability (TPL) requirements. (PDF)
