Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
CMS Axes 340B Model
Following two defeats in federal court, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has ended its 2025 attempt to launch its 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program. The program, which would have introduced a new approach to the 340B prescription drug discount program under which a limited number of pharmaceutical companies would pay rebates to 340B-eligible entities after they purchase drugs instead of offering discounts for the purchase of those same drugs, as has been the practice since the 340B program’s launch in 1992. Late last year a federal court ruled [...]
Docs Not Always Caring for Medicaid Patients
More than a quarter of all doctors enrolled to serve Medicaid patients in 2021 did not serve any Medicaid patients at all while another ten percent treated fewer than 10 Medicaid patients, according to a new Health Affairs study. Among different types of doctors, primary care physicians and cardiologists were most likely to care for higher numbers of Medicaid patients while Medicaid patients seeking the services of psychiatrists were mostly out of luck. Many of the doctors who care for Medicaid patients, and especially those who do not, cite reimbursement [...]
Non-Profit Hospitals Face Near-Term Challenges
The end of Affordable Care Act enhanced health insurance premiums will pose a financial challenge for many of the nation’s non-profit hospitals. The challenge to hospitals will be greatest in states that did not take advantage of Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion and those with especially large concentrations of rural hospitals that also lack a robust health care safety net. On safer ground will be hospitals in states that do have strong health care safety nets or that have taken recent steps to attempt to fill the void left by [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for February 5
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 30 through February 5. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress On Tuesday Congress passed, and the president immediately signed, a package of appropriations bills that, among other government operations, funded the Department of Health and Human Services for the rest of federal FY 2026. Major provisions include: The extension of telehealth flexibilities through the end of 2027. The elimination of $8 billion cuts in Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) [...]
Demise of Enhanced Tax Credits Drives Lower ACA Plan Enrollment
The end of enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act health plans has led to a five percent decrease in the number of people who enrolled in ACA plans during the open enrollment period that ended on January 15. According to federal data, about 23 million Americans signed up for such plans this year, down 1.1 million from last year – a significant decline, although not as great as predictions that enrollment could fall as much as 30 percent. Because of the loss of the enhanced premiums tax credits, insurance [...]