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Congressmen Seek Parity for Medicare Bills
By Larry Lipman, Palm Beach Post
February 29, 2008
Local members of Congress on Thursday urged Gov. Charlie Crist to help raise Medicare payment to private managed-care plans in Palm Beach and Broward counties.
In a letter drafted by Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, the lawmakers urged Crist to try to persuade Medicare officials to designate Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties as a single payment unit for Medicare Advantage plans.
Medicare Advantage plans in Miami-Dade County are paid roughly $233 more per person annually than those in Palm Beach County and $175 more than in Broward County.
The result is that beneficiaries in Miami-Dade County may receive greater benefits, including lower Medicare premiums, deductibles and co-payments, than beneficiaries in Palm Beach or Broward counties.
"This disparity is unfair and unwarranted, because the U.S. government classifies these areas as statistically identical," Wexler said.
Medicare commonly pays managed care plans different amounts from one county to another, based largely on historical payment patterns and on factors such as population density, wages and health-care costs.
Although Medicare is a federal program, governors can petition the agency to change payments from a county-by-county system to larger units such as a metropolitan statistical area or an entire state.
"We look forward to reviewing the letter," Crist spokeswoman Erin Isaacs said.
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget designated Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties as a statistical metropolitan area in 2000, but that did not affect the way Medicare Advantage payments are made.
Other congressmen who signed the letter were: Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar; Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton; and Tim Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens.
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