MEDIA ADVISORY, Tuesday, September 25, 2007
CONTACT: Yoni Cohen, Stark (202) 225-3202

Washington, D.C. – Representative Pete Stark (D-CA), Chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, today sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to request a review of Medicare’s call centers. GAO’s prior reviews have determined that both Medicare’s call centers and those of private Medicare drug plans often provide seniors and people with disabilities with incomplete and/or inaccurate information.

The signed letter is available at http://www.house.gov/stark/news/110th/letters/20070924-CMS.pdf.

The text of the letter follows:

September 25, 2007

The Honorable David M. Walker
Comptroller General of the United States
U.S. Government Accountability Office
441 G Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20548

Dear Mr. Walker:

Providing quality services to all beneficiaries is an essential component of the Medicare program. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has emphasized that improving its communications with beneficiaries is an important goal.

Past reports—including some from GAO—have, however, raised concerns about the quality of the information provided to beneficiaries who contact Medicare call centers with questions. For example, in December 2004 you reported on problems associated with the completeness and accuracy of information provided by these call centers. In May 2006 you reported similar concerns with call center responses to beneficiaries who had questions about the then new Part D benefit. Both reports demonstrated that CMS had a long way to go to provided beneficiaries with important and much needed information.

Although I continue to remain concerned with the completeness and accuracy of information provided to beneficiaries who contact these call centers, I am also troubled by recent reports that suggest the level of customer service is inadequate. These reports note that beneficiaries are waiting long periods of time on hold before reaching a customer service representative (CSR) and that some are having difficulty reaching a CSR who can assist them, especially if English is not their first language.

It is my understanding that CMS has recently changed the contractor operating these calls centers.

Given the involvement of a new contractor, I am now interested in an assessment that would explore the key aspects of the call centers’ customer service. This assessment should feature an evaluation of both caller wait times and the ability of the centers to assist non-English speaking callers. It should also assess the accuracy and completeness of call center responses and include any other elements of customer service that you consider important.

As part of your assessment, I ask that you also review CMS’s oversight of these call centers.

Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated. If you or your staff has any questions, please do not hesitate to contact my staff at (202) 225-5065.


Sincerely yours,


Pete Stark
Chairman