The Vision for Medicare (
https://www.cms.gov/blog/building-cms-strategic-visionworking-together-stronger-medicare) puts the person at the center of care and drives towards a future where people with Medicare receive more equitable, high quality, and whole-person care that is affordable and sustainable. Through this Request for Information (RFI), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking feedback on ways to strengthen Medicare Advantage (MA) in ways that align with the Vision for Medicare and the CMS Strategic Pillars (
https://www.cms.gov/cms-strategic-plan). An additional goal of this RFI is to create more opportunities for stakeholders to engage with CMS, in line with the agency’s Strategic Pillars that prioritize increased engagement with our partners and the communities we serve throughout the policy development and implementation process. We encourage input from a wide variety of voices on the questions below, including beneficiary advocates, plans, providers, community-based organizations, researchers, employers and unions, and all other stakeholders.
A. Advance Health Equity -- CMS defines health equity as “the attainment of the highest level of health for all people, where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their optimal health regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, preferred language, or other factors that affect access to care and health outcomes” (
https://www.cms.gov/pillar/health-equity). The CMS Framework for Health Equity (
https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/OMH/equity-initiatives/framework-for-health-equity) lays out how CMS is working to advance health equity by designing, implementing, and operationalizing policies and programs that support health for all the people served by our programs, eliminating avoidable differences in health outcomes experienced by people who are disadvantaged or underserved, and providing the care and support that our enrollees need to thrive. We seek feedback regarding how we can enhance health equity for all enrollees through MA. (11 questions)
B. Expand Access: Coverage and Care -- CMS is committed to providing affordable quality health care for all people with Medicare. We seek feedback regarding how we can continue to strengthen beneficiary access to health services to support this goal in MA. (11 questions)
C. Drive Innovation To Promote Person-Centered Care -- We strive to deliver better, more affordable care and improved health outcomes. Key to this mission are care innovations that empower the beneficiary to engage with their health care and other service providers. We seek feedback regarding how to promote innovation in payment and care delivery, and accountable, coordinated care responsive to the specific needs of each person enrolled in MA. (12 questions)
D. Support Affordability and Sustainability -- We are committed to ensuring that Medicare beneficiaries have access to affordable, high value options. We request feedback on how we can improve the MA market and support effective competition. (8 questions)
E. Engage Partners -- The goals of Medicare can only be achieved through partnerships and an ongoing dialogue between the program and enrollees and other key stakeholders. We request feedback regarding how we can better engage our valued partners and other stakeholders to continuously improve MA. (4 questions)
RFI:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2022-16463
Press release:
https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-seeks-public-feedback-improve-medicare-advantage