Updated October 5, 2021
Last week, DPC released a report by Health Management Associates (HMA) detailing the costs associated with the passage of the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act (H.R. 1676), which would require insurers to make Medigap plans available to End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients under the age of 65.
Health policy experts often criticize Medigap’s relief from cost sharing as adding to Medicare expenditures. However, using Medicare cost data from 2017-2019, HMA estimated that extending Medigap coverage to all ESRD patients under the age of 65 would only add about $50 million in federal expenditures over the next 10 years. Under current federal law, insurers are not required to offer Medicare Supplemental Insurance (also called Medigap) plans to patients under 65 years of age.
DPC is calling on Congress to enact the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act, which was introduced earlier this year by Representatives Cindy Axne (D-IA) and Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), to help provide ESRD patients with the supplemental insurance they need to remain financially secure.
Contact your Member of Congress here and urge them to cosponsor H.R. 1676.
See the full press release here.
