Medicaid

Georgia took a step closer on Tuesday (Feb. 27) to a limited expansion of its Medicaid program in the latest move by a conservative state seeking to partially expand Medicaid eligibility up to the federal poverty rather than the fully expanded eligibility envisioned by the Affordable Care Act.

Drug company executives who testified Tuesday (Feb. 26) before the Senate Finance Committee expressed support for some legislation aimed at curbing drug prices, but they hedged that support, and many of the proposals they back don’t target drug makers.

Three more Republican-led states are inching toward new state laws that would seek CMS’ permission to enact Medicaid work requirements.

Soon after the Trump administration finalized a rule that would prevent federal funds under Title X from going to clinics that provide abortions or refer patients for abortions, Planned Parenthood and attorneys general from two states said they would file lawsuits and Democratic lawmakers also vowed to fight the rule.

West Virginia’s senators are asking lawmakers to support them in pushing HHS to align the strict privacy scheme for substance abuse treatment records with the looser Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), echoing the calls of physician and hospital groups.

Senate Finance Committee ranking Democrat Ron Wyden (OR), and House Energy & Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) sent another letter Thursday (Feb. 21) to HHS Secretary Alex Azar calling for an end to Medicaid work requirement waivers, shortly after CMS Administrator Seema Verma told the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) that CMS would continue to approve such waivers.

Rural hospital groups in Pennsylvania are cautiously optimistic about an all-payer demonstration for rural hospitals that began in January, modeled after a similar demo in Maryland that prevented rural hospitals in the state from closing.

Eight major hospital associations are asking House and Senate leadership to again delay Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments, as they say the coverage rates envisioned by the Affordable Care Act haven’t materialized and Medicaid already underpays providers.

The Trump administration is rejecting a recommendation from the federal Medicaid advisory commission to pause Arkansas’ controversial program of Medicaid work requirements, CMS Administrator Seema Verma told the commission’s chairwoman in a letter obtained by Inside Health Policy.