Medicaid

FDA approved Friday (Aug. 10) a first-of-its-kind infusion drug, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals' Onpattro, which treats a rare disease by silencing a portion of a patient’s genes.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Thursday (Aug. 9) touted a CMS notice on Medicaid rebates as an example of the administration stopping brand drug companies from cheating Medicaid out of money, but the notice merely informs states of changes that Congress made in February.

New Hampshire is asking CMS for permission to impose new restrictions in its Medicaid program, including using asset tests to determine Medicaid eligibility, eliminating retroactive coverage and requiring Medicaid applicants to submit two forms of identification to prove their citizenship.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar told a conservative audience at the Heritage Foundation on Thursday (July 26) that the administration will continue to approve state requests to add work requirements to their Medicaid programs despite HHS' recent judicial setback in the Kentucky Medicaid case.

Former McKinsey senior partner Paul Mango joined CMS as the agency's chief principal deputy administrator and chief of staff and former Texas Health and Human Services Commission head Chris Traylor will serve as the agency's deputy administrator for strategic initiatives, CMS announced Tuesday (July 24).

CMS is more inclined to approve Medicaid work requirements in states that have expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act, the Kansas Medicaid director said Monday (July 16), and as such, the outlook for Kansas’ work requirement waiver that is under review by CMS may depend on whether the state expands Medicaid after the midterm elections.

The House Energy & Commerce Committee will mark up four bipartisan health-related bills Thursday (July 12), including measures to reauthorize the Children's Graduate Medical Education program and nursing workforce development programs.

Utah has submitted a waiver request to CMS seeking permission to partially expand Medicaid while adding work requirements, but its fate is uncertain due to unresolved legal questions over both parts of the proposal.

Kentucky eliminated dental and vision benefits for nearly 500,000 Medicaid beneficiaries over the weekend and blamed the cuts on a federal judge’s ruling Friday (June 29) that blocked the state’s planned overhaul of its Medicaid program.