Medicaid

CMS proposed a wide-ranging new rule Tuesday (Nov. 12) that the agency says will crack down on states manipulating Medicaid supplemental payments in order to obtain extra federal matching funds.

A second federal appeals court has sided with CMS and upheld a 2017 rule that prevents hospitals from receiving Medicaid DSH payments to cover costs for which they have already been compensated by Medicare or private insurers.

CMS announced Wednesday (Nov. 6) that it approved a waiver to allow District of Columbia to sidestep a restriction on using Medicaid dollars to fund inpatient treatment for substance use and mental illness.

Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act reduced preventable hospitalizations in states that opted into the expanded program in 2014, according to a new report published in Health Affairs.

Medicaid policy is a central issue in state elections being held Tuesday (Nov. 5) in Kentucky, Mississippi and Virginia, as well as in Louisiana, which has a runoff for governor later this month.

The White House on Sunday vowed to vigorously defend the president’s demand that immigrants show they can cover their own health costs or can purchase certain coverage prior to entering the country after a federal judge in Oregon barred the government from implementing the policy for 28 days.

Advocacy groups have filed a class action suit challenging the president’s demand that immigrants prove they have obtained health coverage prior to entering the country, arguing the policy is a vast restructuring of the nation’s immigration laws and violates the constitution's separation of powers, due process and equal protection clauses. The advocates seek to immediately and permanently block the administration from implementing the policy, which is set to go into effect on Sunday (Nov. 3).

The rate of uninsured children rose significantly between 2016 and 2018, according to a new report by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, coming as Democratic lawmakers call on HHS and CMS to explain what it is doing to reverse the trend.

CMS and New Hampshire are appealing a federal judge’s ruling that blocked the state’s plan to implement Medicaid work requirements.