‘Devil Will Be in the Details’ of Forthcoming Medicare-Medicaid Duals Bill

After issuing a request for information (RFI) and reviewing feedback from stakeholders, Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), is circulating discussion draft legislation to improve coverage for Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibles. While several industry experts agree that the legislation is moving integration in the right direction, they also say certain elements of it may be overly ambitious and raise many questions, such as whether states that have limited the number of Medicaid managed care organizations will inhibit the ability of Medicare Advantage plans to participate in the new model. 

Cassidy, who frequently tackles health care issues as a member of several Senate committees, led a bipartisan group of senators in drafting the proposal, which was informed by more than 125 responses to the November RFI. According to a Cassidy aide, the senators will collect feedback through July 1 and hope to formally introduce legislation after Labor Day.