Hydroxychloroquine does not prevent coronavirus infections, according to research findings published Wednesday (May 3) in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) seeks more guidance from CMS on how to deal with potential risk corridor payments, as well as on which COVID-19 tests should be covered and how they should be financed, as the regulators gear up to review filings for 2021 rates.

Congressional leaders from both parties wrote to HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Wednesday (June 3) pressing him to immediately distribute emergency relief money from the CARES Act to Medicaid-dependent providers.

The Congressional Research Service says Congress could rein in FDA’s broad discretionary authority over vaccine clinical trial policies by legislating how the agency and Institutional Review Boards approach clinical trial designs and reviews for the current COVID-19 pandemic, as well as for future emergencies.

CMS tells Inside Health Policy that extending many of the newly waived restrictions on telehealth beyond the pandemic would require Congress to step in, despite the president’s executive order aimed at making some COVID-19 regulatory waivers permanent.

During a Senate hearing on Tuesday (June 2), the head of Congress’ oversight arm’s health division called FDA out for what she asserts are significant problems with the way the agency manages its foreign drug inspection program, and she questioned the agency’s decision to halt foreign inspections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A federal appeals court is grappling with whether states are required to reimburse Medicaid managed care plans for a controversial Obamacare tax -- and, if they aren’t, whether the federal government must pay back nearly $500 million to six states that challenged the regulatory regime surrounding the tax.

Democrats continued to emphasize a need for the federal government to take the lead on the COVID-19 testing supply at a House Energy & Commerce subcommittee hearing where three governors, including two Democrats and one Republican, testified Tuesday (June 2) on their states’ responses to the pandemic.