Rep. Peters Succeeds in Effort to Protect Critical Medicare Programs

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) released the following statement in response to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announcement of payments to Medicare Advantage. CMS estimates that the change to plan payments between 2014 and 2015 will be a 0.4 percent increase instead of the 1.9 percent cut that had originally been proposed.

“Today’s ruling is the victory for San Diego’s seniors that my colleagues and I had hoped and pushed for,” Peters said. “Our seniors depend on Medicare and have earned it; it provides preventative care that leads to better lives and helps reduce health care costs in the long run.

Peters has been active in the effort over the last year to stop the proposed rate cuts and called on CMS to maintain Medicare’s programs as promised for San Diegans. Over the last few weeks, Peters met with senior officials from the White House, congressional leaders, the head of CMS, and the Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to argue against these cuts that could hurt the health of our seniors and add to long-term health care costs.

In addition, Peters sent letters to CMS and spoke on the House floor in support of Medicare and in opposition to the cuts.

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