Hatch, Wyden Praise Committee Passage of the Audit & Appeal Fairness, Integrity, and Reforms in Medicare Act of 2015

WASHINGTON – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today applauded committee passage of the Audit & Appeal Fairness, Integrity, and Reforms in Medicare (AFIRM) Act of 2015, an original bill to improve the Medicare audit and appeals process.  The legislation was reported out of the Committee by a voice vote.

“Today, the Committee took an important bipartisan step toward streamlining the Medicare audit and appeals process to help healthcare providers better serve millions of patients across the nation,” Hatch said. “This is a common sense bill that will help untangle the web of red tape that ensnares the current audit and appeals process and guarantee Medicare patients continue to have access to high-quality care. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move this bill forward.”

“The Finance Committee has passed a strong, bipartisan bill that will begin to ease the tremendous backlog of Medicare appeals that have been frustrating seniors and providers in Oregon and across the country,” Wyden said. “Making the Medicare audits and appeals process more efficient will help resolve cases quickly and at the earliest possible step. I will be working hard to see swift action to help fix this broken system.”

An executive summary of the committee markup will be posted here.

Additional information on the AFIRM Act can be found here.

A letter of support from the American Medical Association (AMA) can be found here.

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