Last week, Connecticut resident and CMA client Ed McMahon was featured on NBC Nightly News, where he described his erroneous Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) denials and subsequent appeals with UnitedHealthcare. This feature came on the heels of two reports by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), which continue to shine a spotlight on “widespread and persistent problems related to inappropriate denials of services and payment” from Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. The problems are so widespread that one blogger averaged the denials to over 161,000 per year (125,000 of which would have likely been reversed on appeal).
These reports, along with Ed’s story, echo what CMA hears from individuals across the country every day. Hopefully, more lawmakers will finally rein in what is being proven again and again: Medicare Advantage Plans deny skilled nursing facility services at alarming rates, and the number of overturned appeals demonstrates these denials were errors. CMA remains committed to eliminating these harmful denials.
June 18, 2026 – C. Huberty