AARP Hearing Center
The following documents related to health care concerns of people 50-plus are presented in reverse chronological order.
December
C: On December 30, 2021 AARP sent a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure providing comments on the interim final rule with request for comments in which the CMS revises the requirements for participation for a number of types of Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers to ensure COVID-19 vaccination of health care staff and contractors. AARP strongly commends CMS for establishing vaccination policies through this rule that protect the health and safety of Medicare and Medicaid provider and supplier staff and their many patients and residents. (PDF)
C: On December 28, 2021 AARP sent a letter providing comments to Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra concerning a decision to withdraw or repeal the Securing Updated and Necessary Statutory Evaluations Timely (SUNSET) rule. This sunset provision put considerable strain on HHS staff across the various agencies to review each regulation in a timely manner. Many of these are undeniably necessary and would not need periodic review if not for the sunset provision. AARP believes Department staff and limited resources are better focused on core competencies and missions. (PDF)
C: On December 15, 2021 AARP sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to provide comments on the Oregon Project Independence (OPI) and Family Caregiver Assistance Program (FCAP) 1115 Demonstration Waiver Application. AARP proudly supports Oregon’s efforts to expand OPI and implement a new FCAP for eligible Oregonians. The services this waiver would provide will be invaluable to individuals who need assistance to help them live independently in their homes and communities and the family caregivers who need additional support to help them do so. (PDF)
L: On December 13, 2021 AARP and Patients For Affordable Drugs Now sent a joint letter to all Democratic U.S. Senators urging them to pass the prescription drug pricing deal and firmly reject any amendments to weaken it. This comes after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the Build Back Better Act, which includes critical provisions to lower prescription drug prices and out-of-pocket costs for millions of older Americans and their families. Relief from high drug prices is long overdue and a top priority for patients and seniors. (PDF)
L: On December 3, 2021 AARP sent a letter to U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) endorsing the bipartisan COVID-19 and Pandemic Response Centers of Excellence Act of 2021. This bill would designate academic medical centers as research and communication hubs to improve our country’s ability to swiftly respond to emerging public health threats and to continue battling COVID-19. It would also establish an advisory committee to facilitate collaboration and information sharing to keep Americans safer now and in the future. (PDF)
November
L: On November 15, 2021 AARP sent a letter to U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Chair Ron Wyden and Ranking Member Mike Crapo in response to a request for information on Behavioral Health Care. As noted by the Committee, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated unmet behavioral health needs and highlighted the ongoing struggle that individuals face in accessing timely, quality mental health care and substance use disorder services. AARP was pleased to provide its perspective on improving access to behavioral health services. (PDF)
L: On November 15, 2021 AARP and Patients for Affordable Drugs Now sent a joint letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives urging them to vote yes to lower prescription drug prices this week. The agreement reached on drug prices will finally start to reverse policies that have left patients and consumers at the mercy of drug corporations and forced Americans to pay three times what other wealthy nations pay for the same medicines. (PDF)
October
L: On October 26, 2021 AARP sent a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urging them to provide some immediate financial relief to our nation’s over 48 million family caregivers by including the caregiver tax credit that was reported out by the House Ways and Means Committee in the budget reconciliation package. The tax credit is consistent with the Credit for Caring Act, whose list of co-sponsors spans the Democratic Caucus and continues to grow, and which has the support of over 140 stakeholders. (PDF)
L: On October 25, 2021 AARP sent letters to U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Mike Braun (R-IN) and U.S. Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Jackie Walorski (R-IN) endorsing the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, Hunger, and Health Act – a bill to help in the effort to end hunger in America. Over 9 million older adults across the country struggle to put food on the table. AARP applauds this effort to hold a substantive, policy-based, and action-oriented White House hunger conference to end hunger and improve nutrition. (Senate: PDF) (House: PDF)
L: On October 21, 2021 AARP and Patients for Affordable Drugs Now sent a letter to Congressional leadership urging them to “get the job done” when it comes to lowering prescription drug prices for the American people. In the letter, the organizations said, “We can finally undo a policy that has left patients and consumers at the mercy of drug corporations that dictate prices of brand-name drugs, forcing Americans to pay three times what other wealthy nations pay for the same medicines.” (PDF)
L: On October 1, 2021 AARP sent a letter to Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer supporting the inclusion of dental, hearing, and vision coverage in Medicare Part B, while strongly urging them to reject any proposal that means-test eligibility for Medicare benefits or limits access to benefits to a subset of the population based on their income as this approach that would fundamentally alter and harm Medicare. (PDF)
September
L – On September 29, 2021 AARP along with 56 other organizations sent a group letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy expressing their collective support for the Credit for Caring Act (H.R. 3321). The groups also applauded the inclusion of a family caregiver tax credit consistent with this bill in the legislation approved by the House Ways & Means Committee on September 15. The group urged the House leadership to include this family caregiver tax credit in the final version of the budget reconciliation package, noting that the committee took this important action to support family caregivers and asked them to do the same. The same group of organizations also sent letters to Chairman Richard Neal of the House Committee on Ways and Means thanking him for his leadership and urging the inclusion of the family caregiver tax credit in the final version of the budget reconciliation package, and another to Representative Linda Sánchez thanking her for her successful efforts that led to the inclusion of a family caregiver tax credit consistent with this bill in the legislation approved by the House Ways & Means Committee. (PDF – Leadership) (PDF – Neal) (PDF – Sánchez)
C: On September 15, 2021 AARP submitted a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services with comments on CMS changes to the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System. AARP’s comments focused on beneficiary coinsurance during colorectal cancer screening, mental health services furnished remotely by hospital staff to beneficiaries in their homes, direct supervision by interactive communications technology, and price estimator tools. (PDF)
C: On September 13, 2021 AARP submitted a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services providing comments on the CMS proposed rule to make revisions to Medicare Part B payment policies. AARP’s comments focus on ensuring older Americans and persons with Medicare continue to have access to needed health care services. (PDF)
L: On September 10, 2021 AARP sent a letter to Chair Frank Pallone and Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce in support of several provisions before the committee as it begins to mark up the Build Back Better Act. Specifically, AARP has expressed support in the areas of Prescription Drug Affordability, Home and Community-Based Services, Affordable Health Coverage, Medicare Benefit Improvements, and High-Speed Internet (Broadband). (PDF)
L: On September 8, 2021 AARP sent a letter to Chairman Richard Neal and Ranking Member Kevin Brady of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means in support of the many provisions before the committee as it begins to mark up the Build Back Better Act. Specifically, AARP has expressed support in the areas of Prescription Drug Affordability, Medicare Benefit Improvements, Family Caregiving, Paid Leave, Nursing Homes, Affordable Health Coverage and Retirement. (PDF)
C: On September 1, 2021 AARP submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services concerning an interim final rule in which the Department of Health and Human Services implements provisions of the No Surprises Act. AARP has long advocated for enacting safeguards to protect consumers against surprise bills from non-network providers who provide services without the consumer’s knowledge or consent in an otherwise in-network setting, and believe these regulations effectively implement the Act’s intent to address the problem of surprise billing. (PDF)
