The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), has finalized a rule to streamline enrollment in the Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs). This action will make coverage affordable for an estimated 860,000 people. The CMS estimates the finalized rule will “save older adults and people with disabilities nearly 19 million hours in paperwork each year and reduce state administrative burden by over 2 million hours annually.”
Run by state Medicaid programs, the MSPs currently cover Medicare premiums and, in most cases, cost-sharing for “more than 10 million older adults and people with disabilities who also have limited incomes.” The MSPs are designed to provide vital links to coverage and care; however, only about half of eligible people are enrolled in the MSPs, in part due to cumbersome application and verification processes. The final rule simplifies the application process and now makes it easier for millions of people to enroll in and afford health coverage through Medicare.
As an additional benefit of the new rule, many Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients will be automatically enrolled into the most comprehensive form of MSP coverage: the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary eligibility group, which covers Medicare premiums and cost sharing. Prior to the new rule, numerous SSI recipients were not enrolled “because of burdensome and duplicative paperwork.”
According to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the new rule will further protect and strengthen healthcare coverage for older adults and people with disabilities, “This final rule will help hundreds of thousands of people access healthcare while also freeing up already limited income for food, housing, and other life necessities.”
The finalized rule marks the latest update from the White House Administration to streamline eligibility and enrollment in Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Basic Health Program.
