Medicaid

The leaders of the Senate Finance and health committees met Tuesday (July 30) to begin cross-committee talks on drug pricing, the chairmen said.

The Trump administration will not allow states to receive enhanced federal Medicaid funding under the Affordable Care Act if they only partially expand Medicaid, a CMS spokesperson confirmed Saturday (July 27), dealing a blow to Utah and other red states that were hoping to adopt limited versions of expansion and still receive the ACA’s full 90% federal match rate.

A bipartisan introduced in the House Thursday (July 25) would authorize up to 25 grants to state and local entities seeking to tackle social determinants of health by offering new services to Medicaid enrollees, such as food and housing. The bill was introduced by Reps. Cheri Bustos (D-IL), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Tom Cole (R-OK) and Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-WA).

Senate Finance Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Thursday (July 25) warned fellow GOP senators that the drug pricing bill he negotiated with ranking Democrat Ron Wyden (OR) is moderate compared to policies being considered by the Trump administration and House Democrats.

The Trump administration on Tuesday (July 23) asked a federal judge to delay ruling on the legality of CMS’ approval of Medicaid work requirements in New Hampshire, but advocates for beneficiaries and a lawyer for New Hampshire urged the judge to rule quickly.

The White House expressed support on Tuesday (July 23) for the Senate Finance Committee’s new drug-pricing bill as did the generic drug lobby, but the brand-drug lobby came out against it.

Lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee did not hesitate to criticize the grand drug-pricing bargain Senate Finance Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and ranking Democrat Ron Wyden (OR) rolled out Tuesday (July 23).

Justice in Aging says that so-called Duals Special Needs Plans look-alikes will interfere with CMS’ policy initiatives to improve care for those eligible for Medicare and Medicaid if the look-alike plans are left unchecked, and the group is urging CMS to force plans with majority duals enrollment to meet D-SNP requirements -- but the group says plans, not beneficiaries, should be the target of regulatory changes.

The Trump administration told a federal appeals court Thursday (July 18) that states should be able to continue testing Medicaid work requirements even as the administration acknowledged problems in how Arkansas initially implemented its first-in-the-nation work requirement program.