Medicaid

House Democrats hope in addition to averting a Medicaid fiscal crises in the territories in October, they’ll be able to come up with longstanding federal funding solutions -- such as eliminating the Medicaid cap for territories and changing territories’ federal Medicaid matching funds calculation to what’s used for states.

An HHS planning office analysis finds a number of state Medicaid waivers are tied to coverage losses and negative health effects in part because beneficiaries don’t understand the new conditions tied to work requirements, health savings accounts, healthy behavior incentives, premiums and more.

House Energy & Commerce Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) joined key Democratic senators to discuss next steps to control health care costs and expand coverage during a call with Protect Our Care Tuesday -- laying the groundwork for health and drug-pricing reforms that could be included in another reconciliation package.

Nursing home providers and advocates want lawmakers to pass a series of workforce, oversight, clinical and structural reforms for the sector and increase funding to support those measures.

Many hospitals are dragging their feet on the new hospital price transparency requirements and compliance is low overall, though some major providers have begun to comply, Deloitte representatives said at the America’s Health Insurance Plans conference Thursday (March 11).

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that significantly expands the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits, increases Medicaid funding and incentivizes states to expand their programs, fully subsidizes COBRA premiums through September and much more.

Lee Fleisher, CMS chief medical officer and director of its Center for Clinical Standards & Quality, told insurers Tuesday (March 9) that peer-to-peer outreach is crucial for convincing reluctant people to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Supreme Court dismissed three cases challenging the Trump-era public charge rule Tuesday (March 9), after the Department of Justice and lawyers for immigration advocacy groups and states filed joint stipulations calling for the cases to be dismissed because the Biden administration is not defending the controversial rule.

House lawmakers are trying to balance their interest in continuing telehealth expansion beyond the pandemic with concerns such services could be overused or used improperly, coming as Department of Justice officials say stopping telehealth false claims is a priority.