The House voted Tuesday (Nov. 19) to fund the government through Dec. 20 with a package that includes so-called heath extenders that are set to expire on Nov. 21.
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The House voted Tuesday (Nov. 19) to fund the government through Dec. 20 with a package that includes so-called heath extenders that are set to expire on Nov. 21.
Democratic Presidential Candidate Elizabeth Warren laid out a strategy for transitioning to Medicare for All under which she would use her first 100 days as president to reverse the Trump administration’s regulatory changes to the Affordable Care Act, defend the law from the GOP challenge in Texas, and support using reconciliation to pass a Medicare-like public option that would be available for all Americans, reform the ACA and lower the Medicare eligibility age to 50.
Academics and beneficiary advocates are continuing to raise concerns with the Medicare Plan Finder tool as open enrollment continues -- namely that the updated website puts too much emphasis on the least expensive Medicare premium, rather than the smallest overall cost, and has missing or inaccurate cost information.
The House Ways & Means Committee's rural health and underserved area task force is asking stakeholders what issues should be considered as lawmakers draft bipartisan legislation -- in particular, the task force wants to pinpoint policies that have had a demonstrable, positive impact on health outcomes and workforce shortages in rural and underserved areas as well as the availability of long-term care.
White House Domestic Policy Council head Joe Grogan recently said CMS included controversial cuts to 340B drug reimbursement and certain off-campus clinics in the 2020 hospital outpatient pay rule because it stands by the policies, and if the courts overturn them that just shows lawmakers where statutory changes are needed.
Federal circuit court judges asked government lawyers to explain why CMS believes it has authority to cut back 340B reimbursement, and HHS’ legal team responded that it is not compelled to overpay hospitals.
Hospitals want a federal judge to enforce her court order to get rid of deep reimbursement cuts for clinic visits at certain off-campus hospital facilities after CMS in its final 2020 hospital outpatient pay rule said it was forging ahead with the second year of the so-called site-neutral cuts.
Sources suggest that California progressive Rep. Ro Khanna’s legislation that would give states flexibility to design a single-payer health system using money from all existing public programs would be a heavy political lift, particularly since seniors are wary of changes to Medicare and employers oppose policies that give states authority over self-insured large group plans.
White House Domestic Policy Council Director Joe Grogan is not a fan of including drug rebate reform in the Senate’s drug pricing bill, and he would rather spend what little time is left tweaking policies that ensure the bill doesn’t raise premiums and that spread more of the bill’s Part D savings to more seniors.
Medicare payment policies are encouraging hospital systems to buy up physician practices, leading to higher costs for both the government and beneficiaries, according to data presented to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Thursday (Nov. 7).
A proposed Medicare Advantage and Part D rule under review by the White House Office of Management and Budget could execute parts of an October executive order and include controversial extrapolation language previously introduced in a prior MA rule, a former senior CMS official says.
Congressional Medicare advisors weighed proposals to reform Medicare Advantage’s quality bonus program and the benchmarks in the MA pay system, but the advisors asked staff to complete analyses on the impacts of the proposed reforms before developing policy recommendations.
A bipartisan, bicameral bill introduced Thursday (Nov. 7) would increase oversight of hospices after reports released by the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) in July identified abuse and neglect of Medicare beneficiaries in hospice.
The House Ways & Means Committee will hold a hearing Thursday (Nov. 14) on caring for aging Americans, and a spokesperson told Inside Health Policy the hearing will likely cover a wide range of issues including care in the home, hospice, nursing homes, antipsychotic use in nursing homes and other long-term care issues.
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers recently introduced legislation to keep CMS from adding noninvasive ventilators to the durable medical equipment competitive bidding program for five years after the agency defended its decision to add the ventilators despite lawmakers’ concerns.
The charity that says it will be forced to stop operations in California due to a state law enacted earlier this month continues to be on the defense over its industry-backed premium assistance program that has been at the heart of a longstanding battle among issuers, unions and dialysis firms.
Senate Finance Committee ranking Democrat Ron Wyden (OR) warned that a provision in a bipartisan budget reform measure sponsored by Budget Chair Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) could portend the end of traditional Medicare if enacted. The bill would set up an automatic budget reconciliation process for debt reduction that would kick in should the Congressional Budget Office determine the debt would be higher at the end of a decade than it would be under the budget resolution. The Budget Committee approved the legislation 15-6 on Wednesday.
HHS has teamed up with the National Kidney Foundation and the American Society of Nephrology on a public awareness initiative about kidney disease that President Donald Trump called for in an executive order. Both stakeholder groups praised the initiative, but some have criticized the administration for not also reforming kidney treatment payment and coverage policies.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley suggested Tuesday (Nov. 5) that he plans to file an updated drug pricing bill next week, and a White House official said the administration is working with the Iowa Republican and ranking Finance Democrat Ron Wyden (OR) on provisions to limit seniors’ monthly out-of-pocket costs and to help seniors with sharply rising insulin list prices.
Hospitals called on CMS to release final guidance on how hospitals can avoid violating Medicare conditions of participations when creating policies to reduce risk in patients who may cause harm to themselves and others or sharing locations with other providers.
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