The AAMC joined 12 other health care stakeholder groups in a July 29 letter of support for the Seniors’ Chronic Care Management Improvement Act of 2021. The legislation would waive the 20% coinsurance requirement for chronic care management (CCM) services in the Medicare program.
In the letter to the lead sponsor of the bill, Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), the groups noted that the coinsurance requirement presents a substantial barrier to care for CCM patients. They stated that “beneficiaries are not accustomed to cost-sharing for care management services” and cited data that “only 684,000 patients out of 35 million Medicare beneficiaries with two or more chronic conditions benefitted from CCM services over the first two years of the payment policy.”
The letter concluded by emphasizing that this legislation would improve seniors’ access to CCM services by removing financial barriers and allowing more Medicare beneficiaries to “benefit from coordinated care.”