By Taylor Keeney, Medicare Advantage Majority spokesperson
There is a moment parents reach, often without really realizing it, where we are no longer just caring for our children, but also helping care for our parents.
I am in that moment now.
As a mom of two young kids, I am also walking alongside my parents as they navigate thinking through doctors, coverage, prescriptions, and what it takes to stay healthy. Through this journey, I’ve learned that health care is constant and personal, and small changes can have very real consequences.
That’s why protecting Medicare Advantage matters.
Many older Americans are living on fixed incomes, managing chronic conditions, and making careful decisions about how to live within their budget as life gets more expensive. Medicare Advantage has become a life-changing option for aging adults, providing something that most other plans don’t: predictability.
Medicare Advantage offers coordinated care, caps on out-of-pocket costs, and access to benefits like dental, vision, and hearing to help people stay healthy and independent. Unfortunately, that predictability is now at risk.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is considering the annual rate increase for Medicare Advantage in 2027, with the initial proposed increase just 0.09%, far below the pace of rising health care costs. This rate increase would effectively be a cut to funding for Medicare Advantage.
When funding doesn’t keep up, the impact directly affects our nation’s seniors through higher costs, fewer benefits, and decreased access to doctors in-network. Those costs fall hardest on seniors, especially those on fixed incomes or living in rural communities.
I care so deeply about these issues, having spent my career at the intersection of policy, public affairs, and community. I started my career working on John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and later served in Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s administration. During that time, I saw how policy decisions made in Washington, both small and big, shape people’s daily lives.
Right now, more than 35 million Americans rely on Medicare Advantage to stay healthy. And continuing to underfund it will leave many paying higher costs, losing crucial benefits, and seeing their stability slip away.
Making America Healthy Again is an incredibly aspirational and attainable goal. Looking at what that means holistically, we can’t leave the millions of seniors who rely on Medicare Advantage behind.
To put the health of our nation first, we must make sure America’s seniors have access to quality, affordable health care. That is only possible when programs like Medicare Advantage are properly funded and deliver reliable, high-quality coverage that meets seniors’ needs today and every day.