Transcripts For CSPAN3 CMS 20240706 : vimarsana.com

Costs brooksbrooksbrooksbroo ksthat the remarks are part of the policy conference here in washington d. C. Welcome back. Hi, everyone. Im very excited for our next session. We are so fortunate to have with us today ms. Brookslasure for medicare and Medicaid Service she oversees programs including medicare, medicaid, Childrens Health Insurance Program and health care. Gov havent church marketplace that provides health care and coverage for more than 100 Million People. Nationwide. She played a key role in guiding the Affordable Care act. The president implementation, and has decades of experience working in the federal government, capitol hill, and in the private sector. Administrator we, are excited to have you here. [applause] thank you so much, matt. For the kind introduction. And the importantly, for the invitation to be here with you will. Good morning. What a beautiful spring day, walking in with my daughter, its nice to see the sun out. Its really a pleasure to join you to discuss the vision and strategies for delivering of forcible, meaningful Health Care Coverage for all people. As we transition from the covid19 pandemic, our six strategic pillars continue to be our guide posts. As we work to season immense opportunity to tangibly transform the way we care for people. We are laser focused on advancing Health Equity, expanding access, engaging partners, driving innovation, protecting our programs and fostering operational excellence. Across the 3 ams, medicare, medicaid, in the market places. Cms now oversees the Health Care Coverage of more than 150 Million People. With record high enrollments across all of our programs, were reaching nearly half of the population of the united states. It is a vast responsibility. And your partnership is essential to ensuring that the people we serve, so many of whom are your members, get the health care they need to thrive. These historic enrollment are due to the biden harris administrations investments in our nations greatest resource. Our health. Id like to discuss a few of our Top Priorities to ensure that all people are served by our programs, that they have adjusted opportunity to obtain their optimal health. Marketplace coverage is now more affordable than ever. And more than 16 Million People signed up during this years covid enrollment. With expanded financial systems, continued by the inflation reduction act, four out of five people were able to find marketplace coverage for 10 or less a month. After tax credits. Weve also doubled down to reach people where they are, we made unprecedented investments to expand our enrollment organization footprint, into nearly every county in the country. Alongside our enrollment partners, we targeted the hardest to reach communities and communities with disproportionately high uninsured rates. We know that you all worked hard to keep and grow marketplace in row meant, so, thank you. This years marketplace open enrollment showed us, again, what works. Greater affordability, accessibility. That results in more people getting the Health Care Coverage they need. Additionally, we continue to implement the no surprises act. Protecting consumers from potentially life altering bills. We hope that you all will continue to work in good faith alongside providers to ensure that this law remained impactful for the american people. Alongside the market places, medicaid and chip are at a critical level in our work to strengthen Health Equity and access in the united states. Its one of our Top Priorities this year to strengthen access to medicaid. Medicaid and chips are a lifeline to millions of people, especially those in underserved communities. These critical programs do not only provide access to care, but also help to build bridges between the Health Care System and Peoples Health related social means, like nutrition and safe housing. We continue to evaluate ways to ensure access to care for people we serve in medicaid and ship, more than 70 of people with medicaid now get coverage through a managed care plan. And were tackling the barriers they may face in enrolling, maintaining coverage, and accessing the care they need. Many of you provided valuable feedback to our request for information related to medicaid access last year. Their input helps to make our program stronger, as we undertake and new medicaid access role. When that better considers access for in medicaid managed care. This spring, will be releasing the medicaid access proposed rule, alongside the proposed rule for medicaid managed therapy. These rules aim to enhance access to care for people with medicaid, evaluating whether enrollees are able to see the Health Care Providers they need, for their mental and physical health. It is critical, as we work to strengthen coverage, that we continue to ensure that people stayed enrolled and covered. President biden announced his intent to end the covid19 pandemic, Public Health emergency, on may 11th. Its one of our Top Priorities to ensure a smooth transition from covid19 waivers and flexibilities, including the continuous eligibility requirements. Your partnership is essential to ensuring smooth transitions for people in medicaid and chip, whether they stay in these programs, or transition to marketplace enrollment coverage. Excuse me, employer sponsored coverage. Cms is committed to working with you towards the mutual goal of keeping all people covered. And i ask that you continue to work with states to help educate your enrollees. I recently seen some of the few great examples of effort youre making. I ask that you continue these efforts through this time of unrelenting. Some of you heard the saying, that cms is pulling all of our levellers to advance Health Equity. Levers like marketplace coverage affordability, medicare payments and quality programs, medicaid and chip access. Prescription medications are another key lever. And strengthening access to affordable medications as you know, is one of the administrations key priorities. As i travel to the country, to hear the voices of the people we serve, the question i hear the most about is the cost of Prescription Drugs. Particularly, couples with Chronic Health needs. Like diabetes. Cms is tackling the cost of Prescription Drugs. Under the leadership of the biden harris administration, we hit the ground running to implement the new Prescription Drug law, the inflation reduction act. It is already delivering savings to the people with medicare through provisions that went into effect this january. Including a 35 dollar per month cap on each covered insulin and three recommended vaccines, such as the shingles vaccine. For people with medicare Prescription Drug coverage for so many people, the new law means they wont have to choose between insulin and other basic needs. Last month, we released the Additional Details on a new drug laws, medicare Prescription Drug inflation rebate program, weve also announced our timeline for implementing pricing of in january. We share these upcoming milestones and opportunities for public input, as we continue to work with people with medicare pay fair prices for some of the costliest medications and beginning in 2026, and we slow the rate of growth that the Medicare Program is experiencing to keep it solvent for our childrens children. The same is true for Medicare Advantage, with an increasing percentage of people with medicare, opting for Medicare Advantage plans, its more critical than ever that we Work Together to provide high quality coverage to people with Medicare Advantage. While ensuring that people receive accurate information, and understand their planned choices and benefits. Well soon share the 2024 Medicare Advantage and final rule, along with the final weight announcements. We appreciate your feedback, and are reviewing your comments now, theres been a lot of attention on the proposals on the advanced notice, to make technical updates and improve payment accuracy and Medicare Advantage. I want to be clear, all cms proposals have to central moles. To make sure that Medicare Advantage program meets the Health Care Needs of the people it serves, and that cms meets its obligation under the law, to pay Medicare Advantage plans accurately. Cms has been intentional in our proposals to fulfill our responsibility. To be a good steward of the Medicare Program. Our proposals ensure that medicare dollars are used efficiently and effectively. Weve also been intentional to ensure that our proposals will not take away valuable benefits. To those who enroll in Medicare Advantage plans. Paying Medicare Advantage plans more accurately for the cost of care helps ensure that people can access the care that they need. Especially people in rural areas, communities of color, and those who are duly eligible for medicare and medicaid, to make sure that medicare, whether traditional coverage or Medicare Advantage, is sustainable for years to come. Equ its also not just our responsibility, but our we are paying close attention to how our policies together address Health Equity. Thats why we proposed a Health Equity index as part of the Medicare Advantage star ratings. To her together to improve care for all people, including people who are dual eligible. Finally, we are committed to supporting the doctors, the leaders and all the Health Care Providers who serve across our programs. Providers have been under significant strain during the pandemic. Ive been hearing from physicians and pharmacists, rural and urban, home health providers, as well as home and Community Based providers, about ways that we can ease some of the burden of caring for all the people we serve. They have requested health navigating plan requirements, across programs, including standardized authorization, appeals from benefits, and other reporting metrics across lines of business. They have described how these challenges are compromising care. Leading to delayed surgeries and causing workforce burnout. Thats why we recently proposed three rules that would streamline the prior authorization process. I look forward to hearing your feedback, as we continue to Work Together to improve the experience for patients, providers and payers. We hope theyll also consider ways to streamline processes for things that were not regulating on. That brings me to our last priority. Which is engaging with all of you, our partners. Our goals are ambitious, all of you are essential to reaching them. I believe strongly that it is critical that our agency listens to the voices of the people we serve, to make them stronger, as well as people who deliver the care on our behalf. So, well continue to have opportunities for engagement, and i know that you will provide comments. Thank you for all of your continued efforts toward our collective mission, Better Health for all people, and with that, ill take a few questions. [applause] thank you, chiquita brookslasure, i realize i short changed cms by about 15 covered lost 50 million covered lives. Very rapidly. Thats good news, more americans being insured than ever. And thank you for your remarks, we covered an enormous range of topics. When you think about the scope, well, you have really big job. That is accurate. Just about everything. Maybe we can just start around Health Equity, in my opening remarks, i talked about what a top priority it is for a hip and our industry, i know how important it is for you, the administration, all of cms. And i look forward to working in partnership. One of the recent examples, very innovative, was the cms maternal care action plan. That included birthing friendly designated hospitals and facilities, and i think its a really good example of how public and private sectors can come together, and especially get to an issue that has been challenging us for such a long period of time. Internal health inequities. And equity and outcomes. Maybe, how important do you think it was to pursue a coordinated action plan with multiple stakeholders on this kind of Equity Initiative . It really, you picked a fantastic example, i think one of the key knee issues in conundrums that we face in health care in america, it has to be done in partnership, we are not going to achieve any of our goals without doing it in partnership with the private sector. I would love to say to our team, we dont deliver our care to anybody. So, if we dont work with the private sector to operate our programs, and to have a broader reach, were not going to be successful. All of us i think you got a real lesson over the last couple of years about what it means to our country, if we do not address health disparities. Its just very obvious to us all, if we dont take care of the least among us, were all going to suffer as a result, so, i think the good thing of this lesson is that lets Work Together, i see so much openness, when it comes to Health Equity, i feel like from the private sector, we all need to work on what the solutions are. So, to your question about health, i was so thrilled that the private sector really embraced wanting a partner. I think, so often in the world, we come up with solutions separately. But for partnering, will be much more effective, and this is, to me, one of the things that is the most abysmal about our Health Outcomes in the country. But when that if we, Work Together, we can improve. Yeah, i know a number of our Member Companies were really pleased to be part of that, a great event. And looking forward to the progress that we can make, one of the other areas of challenge, i know that this is part of cms is strategic plan, geographically isolated communities. Can you maybe share a little bit more detail about the focus on your Rural Health Care . Priorities and how will our industry which operates everywhere across the country, can help support and improve access to health care in advanced Health Equity in rural areas and others underserved areas as well . It, oh we were talking just about traveling, and over the last year, the senior team has been able to get out much more. Its really eyeopening what has happened over the last couple of years. I really do think we have fragility in some parts of our country. Its eyeopening. When youre in colorado, we actually took the drive where when we visited a hospital. They said one out of three days this road is not drivable. So, that means that people who live where you started cannot get to this hospital for maternal care. Et cetera. Much less alaska, which is a totally different level of rural health needs. When you see the needs, maternal health, primary care, Mental Health, highest of them i would say, they are severe. Across some pockets of the country. You have other issues of underserved in rural areas. Really, hearing from the tribes, its an hour to get to an ob gyn. Thats a big deal. So, what weve been trying to do, and know that you absolutely are part of this solution, its really trying to think about what can we do, cross our programs, medicaid is a big provider of rural health, and so, we think about that in terms of the underserved. We are looking at, in our market plans, essential Community Providers are making sure theyre part of the networks and people are getting care. Weve been given new authority under the law to add rural im urgency hospitals, thats been something weve been talking a role communities about. We have to continue to think about this in all of our levers. Look at in terms of reporting, trying to streamline some of these facilities have different capacity then bigger facilities that have more ability to handle a lot of our payment changes and things. Yeah. You mentioned partnership and how important it is, we touched on that with secretary as well. Thinking about the partnership that we have, you mentioned it across all 3 ams, in terms of the work that we need to do how we look at everything with an equity lens as well. What are some of the other Priority Areas that we should collectively be focusing on to support cms efforts to advance equity, and where do you think we can collaborate or work even more closely together . I think that a lot of, ive touched on a few of the huge priorities, one, i would spend a couple more sentences on his Mental Health and physical health. You know, its actually, ive been surprised by just how much the numbers are growing in the Medicare Program, you tend to think of that as a young think of it as more of a younger population. Increasingly, on the medicare side, we have more mental and Behavioral Health issues, that is an area that the administration is focused on. Certainly, we need to work with you on about making sure people have access to providers, theyre using their care, those are a couple of needs, i would also say, getting the word out. One of the things that we all, i think, needing to do is really make sure that cards, whatever am your card says, its not just a card in your pocket, but that you actually know how to use benefits. I think we still have a lot of seniors who dont know that their new drug benefit is coming. So, educating the people that are served by your programs is just an incredible way of partnership, you, more than anyone, know where people are, because of your senior claims at center. So, i would just say, continuing to help people understand what they have access to, what they need to do, like i said, as we go through the unwinding helping them to know, they need to get vaccinated, just all these things. I think its an area where we would like to continue to work. Yeah, thats a really great point. Especially, as we think about the transition and the unwinding. Peoples benefits are gonna change, if theyre moving from one program to another, we know that its not the same across the mall, thats a huge educational challenge. So, with the Public Health emergency, i think its just a little bit more than two months i think where the 14th here not that far away we have truly appreciated the Partnership Working with you hhs and other agencies to make sure that that were able to communicate with enrollees and different programs, especially, medicaid. Where do you see the biggest obstacle either on the cms side, health plan size, that were going to have to face that the transition or with respect to covid19 which isnt going away, its going to be entering a different phase. I would say, you know, this is funny sometimes. How much the system dislikes change. Whatever it is. You get used to it. I think that the biggest challenge, sorry, its definitely be an winding, that is the biggest deal. Of course, we know were going to be working on with all of you. On that piece. I think its also transitioning from some of the flexibility, that people have gotten used to. Weve gotten authority from congress to extend many of them. Which is great. There are some that are going away. I think just the everyone accepting and moving to the, okay, in some areas were going back to business as usual. Its sometimes a bit of a challenge. Certainly, i think that you know, we really want to work with you on commercialization, as we move through the path, we get change. This is how it used to work. Were going back to business as usual. You know, these are the three buckets of that the Health Care System is going to have to get used to. At the same time, we have to deal with some of the ongoing pandemic issues. Like our workforce being burnt out, and making sure were supporting the workforce, and that people want to stay. And delivering care and that people get coverage. Yeah, well, thank you for your perspective, chiquita brookslasure, its been great to have you here. We reached the end of their time this morning. So, please, join me in thanking chiquita brookslasure for sharing her insights with us today. [applause] one programming note, our first set of concurrent sessions will begin at 11 10 on the concourse levels. Thank you very much. Earlier today, pharmaceutical executives discussed lowering the price of insulin and other drugs. Before the Senate Health committee. Watch the hearing tonight at 9 00 eastern on cspan. Cspan now, our free mobile video app or online at cspan. Org. Cspanshop. Org and she spends online store, browse through our latest collection of cspan products, apparel, books, home decor, and accessories. Theres something more every cspan fan and every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations. Shop now or anytime at cspanshop. Org. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government. We are funded by these Television Companies and more, including midco. Midco supports cspan as a public service, along with these other television providers. Giving you a front row seat to democracy