WASHINGTON – Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin today released a GAO report showing that $11 billion in addition funds given to Medicare+Choice plans at the end of last year have not improved benefits for seniors in HMOs.

"Congress voted for payment add-ons based on an empty promise," Rep. Cardin said. "We were assured that plans would use the money to decrease beneficiary premiums or increase extra benefits. Instead, America's seniors now face even higher premiums and less generous benefit packages than last year."

Release of the GAO report, which Rep. Cardin requested last April, coincides with today's Ways and Means Health Subcommittee hearing highlighting changes in plan offerings for 2002. According to the report's findings, only 3 percent of enrollees were offered enhanced benefit packages; one-quarter of beneficiaries received lower premiums or cost-sharing requirements.

The Congressman pointed to Kaiser Permanente -- the last remaining Medicare HMO in Maryland. Two years ago, when all other plans left the state, Kaiser froze its enrollment at 17,000, quadrupled its monthly premium, and sharply reduced its physician panel. In 2002, despite additional payments to HMOs, Kaiser will increase its premium by $10 and impose a $300 copay for each inpatient admission. Copayments for outpatient prescription drugs and outpatient hospital care will also increase. None of the plans that left Maryland in 2000 will return next year.

"Seniors are finding that more than ever, Medicare+Choice offers them fewer benefits and less choice. The only ‘plus' is the added strain on seniors' wallets. That is why I have joined my colleagues as an original cosponsor of the Medicare+Choice Consumer Protection Act of 2001. Congress clearly intended Medicare+Choice to provide at least the benefit package offered by traditional Medicare. HMOs actions necessitate that we enact consumer protections to guarantee this basic level of benefits." HR 3267 limits beneficiary copays to what the beneficiary would have paid in fee-for-service Medicare and provides additional protections to those in Medicare+Choice plans.