April 1, 2026 marked the 40th anniversary of the Center for Medicare Advocacy. In its forty years, CMA has seen Medicare move from a universal program with two coverage parts, Part A for hospital and other inpatient care, and Part B, for physician and other outpatient services, into the current complex labyrinth of public and private options. CMA’s efforts to protect and improve Medicare have seen great success – gaining coverage and access to care for thousands of beneficiaries, establishing appeals for certain outpatient “Observation” status patients, and winning the Jimmo Settlement that prohibits coverage denials based on improvement (see sidebar). Nonetheless, there have been too many setbacks, such as the over-emphasis on privatizing Medicare, the never-ending overpayments to these private Medicare Advantage plans, and the shrinking of the home health benefit. We acknowledge and thank our advocacy community, which has helped CMA strengthen beneficiary rights and work to preserve a robust Medicare program for all. Explore CMA’s history, successes, challenges, and vision for the future in our recently recorded webinar, 40 years of Medicare Advocacy: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward.
- Watch now at medicareadvocacy.org/webinar-40-years-of-advocacy/
- Download our chart of Medicare then and now
April 4, 2026 – J. Stein, M. Shepard