More than 30 healthcare organizations, including home care providers and tech companies, signed onto letters this month to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in support of Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, citing the value of supplemental benefits and in-home health risk assessments. The three letters, from three different stakeholder groups, called on CMS to implement a stable rate and policy environment for 2023.
One of the letters addressed the positive impact of supplemental benefits in MA plans.
“Providing supplemental benefits that support behavior change and access to health and social services will be essential moving forward to improve health outcomes, quality of life and reduce morbidity, mortality and healthcare spending,” LeadingAge, along with SilverSneakers, the Gerontological Society of America and other consumer and healthcare-related groups, wrote in a letter to Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.
Another letter talked about the importance of in-home health risk assessments.
“In-home health risk assessments contribute to the management for acute and chronic conditions, by identify and addressing unmet needs and diseases, and coordinating care by connecting beneficiaries to community resources, follow-up care and care coordination programs,” said the letter signed by nearly 20 organizations including Signify Health and VillageMD, two technology firms that are active in home care.
The third letter, from the National Hispanic Medical Association, and Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, touted the connection between MA plans and improved health equity.
MA is a growing program that increasingly is making inroads to seniors who live at home. A new report finds that nearly one-quarter of MA plans are providing nonmedical supplemental benefits this year. Some of the most popular benefits include food and produce, meals, pest control and transportation for nonmedical needs.
LeadingAge and other groups offered examples of how supplemental benefits have made an impact. It mentioned Meals on Wheels America partnering with MA plans to offer meals, and Silver Sneakers as an MA supplemental benefit promoting physical activity and social engagement.
“On behalf of our mission-driven members, LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services, signed on to this letter in support of both continued flexibility to offer supplemental benefits (which have in recent years been added to MA plans), and more transparency in how those benefits are communicated to the over 27 million beneficiaries who choose and rely on Medicare Advantage,” a LeadingAge spokesperson said in an email to McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse.
