AAJ Opposes CMS Proposed Rulemaking on Medicare Repayment System
Rulemaking would create further delay for seniors and severely sick or injured
Washington, DC—The American Association for Justice (AAJ) submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in opposition to the proposed rulemaking on future medical requirements in the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) system. MSP is a process to ensure Medicare is reimbursed for medical bills that are the responsibility of another party – such as an insurer or negligent party. The current proposal rulemaking would create further delays in the MSP system for both seniors and beneficiaries who are severely sick or injured.
“CMS should take a more balanced approach than exists in the current reimbursement system on any new MSP requirements, said AAJ President Mary Alice McLarty in the submitted comments. “A critical objective of any MSP policy must be to eliminate confusion and uncertainty and create a policy that is clear, efficient and fair.”
In addition, these new requirements create barriers to the civil justice system for seniors and leave the Medicare trust fund without reimbursement. Medicare is only entitled to its fair share of future medical reimbursement and should not leave seniors would are severely sick or injured without funds to pay their ongoing medical treatments.
AAJ continues to support the Strengthening Medicare and Repaying Taxpayers (SMART) Act, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 1063) on March 14, 2011 and currently has 132 bipartisan cosponsors. The Senate companion bill (S. 1718) was introduced on October 18, 2011 and currently has 19 bipartisan cosponsors.
AAJ released a MSP primer detailing the lengthy delays and inconsistencies of the current system, which can be found here.
