On December 18, 2015 the Senate Finance Committee Bipartisan Chronic Care Working Group released a document that provides an overview of policy options under consideration to improve the care and treatment of Medicare beneficiaries with multiple chronic diseases. The work group is soliciting comments on the document from interested stakeholders by January 26, 2015. Comments should be emailed to the Senate Finance Committee chronic care reform mailbox at chronic_care@finance.senate.gov.
This document is a result of an effort that began with a hearing in July 2014 when the Committee heard from patients with multiple chronic diseases on the numerous challenges they face when attempting to access treatment and care. During this hearing, Senators also heard from providers, employers, and health plans about the challenges each face in trying to offer higher quality care at lower cost.
After a second hearing May 2015 the bipartisan, Finance Committee chronic care working group, co-chaired by Senators Johnny Isakson and Mark Warner, was formed. To help inform their work, the working group solicited input from stakeholders and received over 500 comments.
Policies selected for further consideration include the following:
