Health policy experts on Tuesday urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to boost staffing, noting that the government shutdown has only hindered services.
This staffing shortage couldn’t have come at a worse time, as open enrollment for Medicare plans began earlier this month.
“We don’t have the infrastructure right now in place to really make sure those benefits get delivered well and get communicated well,” said Jon Blum, a health policy expert at the University of Southern California, at The Hill’s “Bang for Your Buck: Get the Most From Your 2026 Medicare Drug Benefits” event, sponsored by the Alliance for Aging Research.
“I think we really have to have a conversation together regarding what is the right staffing needs that we need at CMS, and I would argue strongly that it’s far too low right now, and that’s going to have impact throughout the country,” he added.
Last week, the CMS called furloughed workers back to work for this year’s open enrollment season. Forty-seven percent of CMS workers were placed on furlough when the government ran out of funding on Oct. 1, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
And earlier this year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made sweeping cuts across the Department of Health and Human Services, including at the CMS. Blum said Tuesday that the agency has lost 15 percent of its workers in the last few months.
Kristi Martin, a health care director at Camber Collective who also served as a former senior adviser and chief of staff at the CMS, noted that communications staffers and workers who train brokers and agents — typically part of the open enrollment workforce — were let go.
Open enrollment, which runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, gives those aged 65 and older the opportunity to make changes to their Medicare plans, which could include upgrading from one plan to another or enrolling in a new drug plan.
Come 2026, Medicare Part B premiums are expected to rise by $21.50 to $206.50, one of the biggest hikes in Medicare history, and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans could also rise from the $35 government set cap to $50.
Applying for Medicare has long been an arduous process. Less than half of all enrollees fully understand their coverage, and some seniors even spend hundreds of dollars more than they need to, according to Action Benefits and the National Council on Aging.
Some experts speaking to The Hill said the CMS should look into new ways to help guide Americans through open enrollment season.
“There are structural changes that you could make to the benefit design, such as changing the way the drugs are selected and the price controls,” said Kirsten Axelsen, a health care policy analyst at DLA Piper. “ I don’t think those are really helping people, and they’re deterring investment and innovation.”
Blum noted that increased staffing would ultimately do just that — and benefit older Americans.
“The oversight, [and] the management [and] the delivery of benefit are things that need to be done by human beings,” he added, noting “you can’t do it through computers.” “That’s something that is not currently in place, that needs to change going forward.”
