Congress probably won’t act on Medicare legislation until after the August recess and may end up waiting until after the elections, according to The Hill.
One of the pending Medicare bills is a proposal to eliminate late fees for beneficiaries who didn’t sign up for the Medicare prescription drug plan before the May 15 deadline, which I blogged about here.
Medical News Today has a round up of news links.
In other Medicare news, an “independent expert panel” concluded that enrollment of low-income beneficiaries in the Medicare Savings Programs has been delayed because the “hard-to-reach” group is not aware of the programs, the application process is difficult, and other reasons. (See press release)
The National Academy of Social Insurance study panel recommends that the federal government work with the Social Security Administration to make the rules of eligibility for the programs simpler and implement small changes over time that will increase the federal government’s role in the programs.
You may download the report here (PDF).
