Health-Exchange-Alert

CMS on Thursday (May 23) announced it will again provide $10 million a year in grants to fund the Affordable Care Act’s navigator program for the 34 states that fully rely on the federal government for their exchange functions, releasing a $20 million funding opportunity through 2021 since the agency has extended the performance period for two years.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals announced Wednesday that it will hear oral arguments in the high-prolife lawsuit over the Affordable Care Act, Texas v. Azar, on July 9.

Lawmakers stuck to partisan lines as they debated the tradeoffs of a single-payer health care system during a House Budget Committee hearing, with Republicans focusing on how a transition to the system could disrupt American health policy and Democrats highlighting the potential positive outcomes.

Several lobbyists on Monday suggested the Senate health committee could unveil a discussion draft of policy proposals to lower health care costs as soon as Thursday (May 23).

A coalition of employer associations representing restaurant, retail, hotel and other workers applauds a bipartisan, bicameral effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s definition of a full-time employee, currently set at 30 hours a week for the employer mandate, so that it aligns with the traditional 40-hour threshold, and hopes the Employer Flexibility Act will be included in a must-pass bill.

CMS should revise its policies to provide more transparency on states’ requests for 1115 waivers in their Medicaid programs, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Friday (May 17).

House lawmakers debated and adopted more than two dozen amendments to the drug-pricing and Affordable Care Act fix package of seven bills that passed the floor Thursday (May 16), most of which focused on further steps to shore up the marketplace and received no GOP support although Republicans did not oppose a few of the ideas.

Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said FTC faces many challenges in antitrust enforcement– including falling resources, the inability to study the insurance industry without explicit congressional authorization, lack of authority to review non-profit hospitals’ activities, a reliance on insurers’ data and the large amount of evidence courts require to show a merger could be harmful.

Five House committee chairs stepped up pressure on the Department of Justice and the White House counsel to hand over documents showing why the administration recently shifted positions in Texas v. Azar and is now calling on the courts to scrap the entire Affordable Care Act, warning lawmakers  may issue a subpoena if the administration  doesn't provide documents and a transcribed interview of Acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought by May 24.