The letter below was sent to Gov. Crist today by the 17 member Palm Beach County delegation of State Representatives in response to information supplied to them by the Alliance of Delray Residential Associations. (For a synopsis of April 2 Alliance of Delray monthly meeting go to www.allianceofdelray.com.)
A similar request is being delivered to Gov. Crist signed by U. S. Congressmen Robert Wexler, Alcee Hastings, Ron Klein and Timothy Mahoney on Monday April 7.
April 2, 2008
Governor Charlie Crist
PL 05 – The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Dear Governor Crist:
As you may be aware, the maximum allowable amount of Medicare payments to Medicare Advantage plans in Palm Beach, Broward and Dade counties are drastically different. In Palm Beach County, MA plans receive on average $233 less per patient than those in Dade County. This disparity results in widely divergent benefits for patients in these neighboring counties.
Examples of disparate benefits include some MA plans paying beneficiaries’ Medicare part B or Part D premiums in Dade, but not Palm Beach. Some MA plans in Dade provide eyeglass and dental benefits which are not available to beneficiaries living in Palm Beach County.
We feel that this situation is unreasonable and unfair to our constituents participating in the Medicare program. For years, the Office of Management and Budget has designated Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties as one single statistical metropolitan area (SMA), showing a high level of regional cooperation and likeness.
It is time that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) designate the tri-county area as a single unit for purposes of Medicare payments to Medicare Advantage plans.
As Governor, you have the ability to petition CMS to change the MA payment from a county-by-county basis to a statewide, metropolitan, or consolidated noncontiguous county basis. In light of the area’s designation as a SMA, we urge you to make such a petition to CMS and help our county’s Medicare beneficiaries receive equivalent benefits.
On behalf of the seventeen members of the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, I thank you for your consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
Rep. Mary Brandenburg, Chair
Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation
REP. MARY BRANDENBURG
CHAIR
REP. SHELLEY VANA, VICE-CHAIR. Senators Jeff Atwater District 25; Dave Aronberg District 27; Ken Pruitt District 28; Mandy Dawson, District 29; Ted Deutch, District 30; Larcenia Bullard, District 39; Representatives Richard Machek, District 78; Bill Snyder, District 82; Carl Domino, District 83; Priscilla Taylor, District 84; Shelley Vana, District 85; Maria Sachs,
District 86; Adam Hasner, District 87; Susan Bucher, District 88; Mary Brandenburg, District 89; Kelly Skidmore, District 90; Ellyn Bogdanoff, District 91.
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Ed Chase
Executive Director