LeadingAge Comments on Medicare Congressional Letter to the White House

WASHINGTON—Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit providers of aging services, responded to a letter sent by 34 members of congress to President Joe Biden’s Administration regarding the Medicare Advantage (MA) plan “flex cards.

Below is Sloan’s response:

“This request for federal guidance on Medicare Advantage flex cards is timely, as Medicare Open Enrollment begins next week, and it is increasingly urgent. The ‘lack of clarity’ cited in the letter, and the problems that result because of it, is serious. For months, on behalf of our nonprofit and mission-driven members and the older adults they serve, we too have brought our concerns about MA plans’ preloaded payment cards to this administration. Time and again, we hear stories of older adults of limited means enduring financial harm and negative health outcomes as a result of misunderstandings about flex cards. 

“Low-income older adult residents in federally-assisted housing communities have seen their rents improperly increased as a result of these benefits—even though the card was never used. We know of older adults who have disenrolled from vital Programs for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) for these cards, only to discover that doing so caused the loss of their PACE benefits—which, in some cases, included what the beneficiary sought to purchase with the card. 

“We’ve been tracking this issue closely and sharing examples with staff at the White House, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Health and Human Services and with Congress. Too much confusion reigns and older adults are being harmed.  

“We thank Mr. Doggett for leading this letter on this critically important issue, and appreciate that he and other members of congress signed the letter underscoring our message about a serious problem that must be addressed. The timing is right. We hope to see action taken.”