Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe's highly watched proposal to expand Medicaid through a private option passed the state House (77-23) Tuesday morning after falling six votes short of the three-fourths majority needed for passage on Monday.

A collaborative of states interested in pursuing the health law's voluntary Basic Health Plan option will be formed in May and four months later CMS intends to release proposed regulations on the provision, according to an HHS timeline provided to Sen. Maria Cantwell's (D-WA) office Friday (April 12).

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe (D) is doubling up on efforts to build support among state lawmakers for his highly watched private Medicaid expansion option, which failed to pass the House legislature by six votes on Monday, by emphasizing in advance of a new vote Tuesday that his plan could protect businesses from penalties under the health law's employer mandate, a Beebe spokesman tells Inside Health Policy.

Supreme Court justices appeared receptive to the government’s position that synthesized genetic materials are patentable, but isolated DNA is not, attorneys said following oral arguments Monday (April 15) in a high-profile biotechnology case.

FDA delayed issuing compounding warning letters and did not send drafted warnings -- including to compounders spotlighted since a deadly meningitis outbreak -- because of the lack of a direct agency policy following court decisions, House Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats say in an investigation into FDA's compounding oversight.

A key official at the group representing cancer clinics is blasting the White House's fiscal 2014 budget proposal to reduce reimbursement for cancer drugs from average sales price (ASP) plus 6 percent down to ASP plus 3 percent, a policy estimated to save the federal government $3.3 billion over 10 years.

The vast majority of fraud in the home care industry is still isolated in a handful of counties, a new industry study finds, and a coalition that includes home health firms and AARP says lawmakers could glean billions more in savings by ending Medicare fraud instead of making seniors pay more for services and cutting provider pay.

A broad swath of health industry leaders, including insurers and a key beneficiary advocacy group, worked behind the scenes for over a year to craft a set of hot-button proposals aimed at providing higher quality health care at lower costs and the coalition now hopes to engage additional stakeholders, including the drug industry, in the talks.

House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) tells Inside Health Policy that her reappearance on the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee puts her in key position to brief GOP leadership on important health issues.

Patient groups are pushing back against a new Obama administration proposal to let some group health plans impose separate limits on out-of-pocket costs instead of having a single limit, arguing that individuals could easily face total annual out-of-pocket costs that are double the ACA maximum and the policy would disproportionately harm people with chronic diseases and disabilities.

CMS should consider letting seniors share in savings from accountable care organizations to shield ACOs from the potential backlash that HMOs experienced in the 1990s, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Chair Glenn Hackbarth said at the group's meeting this month.

FDA grouped some diseases per requests from the patient advocacy community in finalizing a list of 16 conditions that will be subject to congressionally mandated patient-focused meetings beginning later this month.

Drug compounders are monitoring how state legislatures reference U.S. Pharmacopeia standards and restrict products produced for office use -- a requirement sidestepped by compounders tied to a recent outbreak -- as well as new mandates for sterile compounding permits, an International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists official said, responding to a flurry of state activity in recent months.

Insurance industry officials held a “productive” meeting with President Barack Obama Friday (April 12) afternoon to discuss the goal of educating Americans about the upcoming health insurance exchanges set to go live Oct. 1, a White House official confirms.

Congressional Medicare payment advisors urged House lawmakers this week to go a step beyond the White House's controversial budget proposal to levy a 15 percent surcharge on beneficiaries with Medicare supplemental coverage by suggesting a larger surcharge coupled with a redesign of the program -- a move that has insurers scurrying to quash major changes to Medigap.

Officials at the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists should answer questions related to past efforts to avert FDA compounding oversight, top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said Thursday (April 11) in calling for the group to testify at next week's oversight hearing.

Arizona has informed CMS it will drop out of the agency's high-profile financial alignment demonstration that seeks to integrate and improve care for beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, and instead will work with other states to leverage successes with dual eligible specials needs plans, according to an April 10 letter obtained by Inside Health Policy.

Hospitals are seeking more product quality information from outside compounding pharmacies and expanding their ability to produce sterile products in-house following a deadly meningitis outbreak tied to a large-scale compounder, according to a report from HHS' watchdog agency released Thursday (April 11).

HHS' fiscal 2014 budget requests $1.5 billion out of program management funds for operations and oversight of the health law's insurance market exchanges and other related functions, in addition to funding the agency expects to collect from the 3.5 percent user fee charged for participation in the federally-facilitated and state partnership exchanges.

ACOs might be a spring board to Medicare Advantage and other capitated-pay models, according to some MedPAC commissioners and accountable care organization representatives.