Ali Bers
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alicebers.bsky.social
Ali Bers
@alicebers.bsky.social
380 followers 580 following 37 posts
Director, Massachusetts Medicare Advocacy Project; former Litigation Director @ Center for Medicare Advocacy; interested in health care policy; only my own views here. She/her

Western Mass
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alicebers.bsky.social
Federal judge rejects challenge to Medicare Advantage “star ratings” system. Also, CMS must have some Gen Xers on staff. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
The random assortment of contracts into ten groups depends on a seed number. The seed is a sequence of numbers that kickstarts the randomization process by sorting contracts into ten groups. CMS uses the same seed every year for mean resampling. The number it uses is 8,675,309, an allusion to the popular song "867-5309 (Jenny)" by musical artist Tommy Tutone. (For that reason, it is sometimes called the "Jenny Seed.") E. The Jenny Seed Elevance's final argument is a rehash of its argument in the prior section about the variation caused by mean resampling. Conceptually, it belongs more in the prior section than in its own. But because Elevance places this argument in its own section in its brief, the Court will analyze it separately. Elevance complains that because CMS uses the "Jenny Seed" to kickstart the mean resampling process every year, the assortment is not truly random as required. Again, Elevance claims the repeated use of the Jenny Seed violates the regulations only in light of CMS's purported rounding to the millionth place.10 But CMS does not round to the millionth place; it rounds to the nearest half. See supra Section C. So Elevance's argument fails for that reason alone but not for that reason only.
August 19, 2025 at 8:08 PM
alicebers.bsky.social
@beaheroaction.bsky.social Exec Director @jamilaheadley.bsky.social invokes the history of AIDS activism as she speaks of “evidence-based hope” while accepting the Chiplin Social Justice & Advocacy Award. Wonderful to hear of hope even as she says all we work for as health advocates is at risk.
May 14, 2025 at 7:47 PM
alicebers.bsky.social
Former CMS Administrator @chiquitabl.bsky.social speaks movingly on being the first African American in her role, and the agency’s accomplishments during the Biden administration - including reaching the lowest uninsured rate!
May 14, 2025 at 4:59 PM
alicebers.bsky.social
Excited to be moderating a panel today with @sarahsomers.bsky.social of @nhelp.bsky.social and Maame Gyamfi of @aarpfoundation.bsky.social on Advocacy in the Courts at our 12th Annual National Voices of Medicare Summit today. And always an honor to be at @kff.org’s Barbara Jordan Conference Center
Statue of Barbara Jordan Photo of Barbara Jordan holding an American flag
May 14, 2025 at 3:40 PM
alicebers.bsky.social
Umbrella was the sign in Enfield, CT #HandsOff
Person at a Hands Off protest in Enfield, Connecticut, holds a red umbrella showing that the top has written messages on each panel saying things like “Hands Off Education and the Arts,” “Hands Off Social Security,” “Hands Off Heritage Sites,” and “Hands Off Women’s Rights.”
April 6, 2025 at 12:44 AM
alicebers.bsky.social
It is not up to Musk or DOGE to decide what constitutes waste or fraud in Medicare.
Picture of X post of Wall Street Journal headline saying “DOGE Aides Search Medicare Agency Payment Systems for Fraud,” which Elon Musk has re-posted and stated “Yeah this is where the big money fraud is.”
February 6, 2025 at 3:11 AM