Senate Finance working group to develop Medicare chronic care legislation

The Senate Finance Committee will seek input from stakeholders on legislative proposals to improve care for Medicare patients with chronic conditions, a large and growing share of Medicare spending, Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) announced at a hearing today on the issue. The committee leaders said Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) will co-chair a working group of the full committee tasked with developing bipartisan legislation that can be marked up this year. “While disease management and chronic care coordination have been widely used by private sector health insurers, their application in fee-for-service Medicare has been largely restricted to demonstration programs” that “have shown, at best, mixed results,” Hatch said. With chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer accounting for 93% of Medicare spending, Wyden said “it’s time for both parties to tackle this issue head on.”