Medicaid

A federal judge in New York is mulling whether to temporarily halt the Trump administration’s so-called public charge rule in light of evidence that the rule is deterring immigrants from seeking medical care during the coronavirus crisis.

The House passed the Democrat-backed Heroes Act on Friday (May 15), despite opposition from the Republicans and little chance of passage in the Senate.

A handful of Democrats unveiled a health data privacy bill Thursday (May 14), after Senate Republicans released their own data privacy bill and amid concerns about data collected for COVID-19 contact tracing purposes.

A sweeping proposal by House Democrats unveiled Tuesday (May 12) would provide funding to states to expand testing and again replenish the provider relief fund, although Republicans have made it clear the bill won’t go far.

House Ways & Means Committee Chair Richard Neal (D-MA) called on CMS to slow down allowing hospitals and health systems to reopen for non-emergency services until facilities meet certain requirements.

HHS on Thursday (May 7) distributed $583 million to over a thousand community health centers to bolster COVID-19 testing.

HHS earlier this month began disbursing the latest round of provider funding to rural providers and hospitals hardest hit by COVID-19, which the rural hospital lobby applauded as immediate relief but now hopes Congress will focus on long-term aid.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday squashed speculation that the Department of Justice might alter its position in the high-profile challenge to the Affordable Care Act, affirming the administration will be “staying with Texas” in calling for the ACA to be scrapped, one day after CNN reported that U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr lobbied the White House to change its approach.

U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr’s reported suggestion that the administration back off asking the Supreme Court to strike the entire Affordable Care Act and instead try to save some pieces is likely a last-ditch effort to save face, former Wisconsin Sen. Russel Feingold (D) and Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, said in a Tuesday call held one day before Democrats are set to file initial briefs in the high-profile Supreme Court case, California v. Texas, over the constitutionality of the ACA.