FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Andrew Rosenberg (arosenberg@thornrun.com), (202) 247-6301
The Medicare Advocacy Recovery Coalition (MARC), a national coalition of stakeholders advocating for the improvement of the Medicare and Medicaid Secondary Payer (MSP) programs, applauded the House of Representatives’ inclusion of language in the continuing resolution (CR) to repeal Medicaid third party liability (TPL) policies that have the effect of eliminating the incentive for beneficiaries to pursue and settle third-party insurance claims. MARC has consistently advocated for these reforms, which would support Medicaid beneficiaries and the program at-large by removing barriers to reaching a settlement when another party is liable for their health care expenses — such as a car accident or a workers’ compensation claim.
Recently, the House passed legislation to delay the Section 202(b) of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, and the Senate included the provision in proposed legislation. Owing to its deleterious effect on beneficiaries, Congress has, in fact, delayed the implementation of the provision several times from 2014 to 2017. However, time has run out on the latest extension, and the MARC Coalition welcomes the inclusion in the CR of this bi-partisan, bicameral solution permanently repealing the mistaken policy.
MARC Chairman Greg McKenna applauded the efforts of key members in the Senate and House on their hard work on this issue, and encouraged their colleagues to take the provision over the finish line. “On behalf of the MARC Coalition as well as the millions of Medicaid beneficiaries who will be better served by streamlining their TPL claims settlement process, I thank Energy & Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee Chairman Michael Burgess for his tireless work in driving this issue to the attention of House leadership.”
Additionally, McKenna offered appreciation to Senate leaders on the issue, stating, “Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and Senator Rob Portman have been instrumental in their support of streamlining this arcane Medicaid provision, and we encourage the Senate to move forward with their commonsense solution to this challenge.”
Additional background on this issue is available here.
ABOUT MARC
When a beneficiary is injured and another party is supposed to cover their healthcare expenses – such as in a workers compensation claim – Medicare’s legal responsibility to pay is “secondary.” Unfortunately, the current Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) policy is convoluted and confusing, creating problems and inefficiencies for beneficiaries, settling parties and taxpayers alike. That’s why MARC exists: to support commonsense reforms to fix this broken system. MARC’s membership represents virtually every sector of the MSP regulated community including attorneys, brokers, insureds, insurers, trade associations, self-insureds and third-party administrators. For more information on MARC, please visit www.MARCcoalition.com.