CMS reported a record of nearly 47,000 comments on its Medicare Advantage payment rule for 2027.
The insurer-backed Better Medicare Alliance, an MA advocacy group, hosted an executive summit March 3, featuring CMS Director of Medicare and Deputy Administrator Chris Klomp, as well as CMS Deputy Administrator and Chief Policy and Regulatory Officer John Brooks.
Mr. Brooks confirmed the agency got “a little bit more input this year than we typically get,” with the advance notice securing a record-breaking number of comments. “That could be another innovation related to AI,” he joked.
The proposed rule outlined a net average year-over-year payment increase of 0.09%, or about $700 million in MA payments. Several organizations, including the Better Medicare Alliance accompanied by over 100 other groups, expressed concerns with the rate.
The advance notice’s comment period closed Feb. 25. CMS veteran Mark Newsom took to LinkedIn to address the letter-writing efforts individuals and organizations undertook in response.
“As a former lobbyist I understand the desire of some special interests to port over to CMS tactics commonly used on the Hill to promote or kill legislation,” he wrote. “This is generally ineffective. Notice-and-comment rulemaking is a process best designed to assess the technical merits of a proposal. It’s not a public opinion poll. Data and legal analysis win the day.”
Some organizations, like AHIP, have been commissioning research on the proposal, identifying pressure on benefits coverage, for example.
When asked about stakeholders that are questioning the payment policies laid out in the advance notice, Mr. Klomp said, “This is why we are taking so many meetings. This is why we are actually reading the comments.”
The final rate announcement is expected April 6.
