Congress

Federal Health Policy Update for September 18

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for September 12-18. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Funding for the federal government expires on September 30. Members of Congress have not yet coalesced around a plan to fund the federal government when the new federal fiscal year begins on October 1, with House Republican and Democratic leaders releasing competing legislative texts for a short-term continuing resolution (CR). House Republicans have proposed a CR to last through November 21 with very few anomalies, or policy changes, outside of regular spending. [...]

joe2025-09-18T17:11:02-04:00September 18, 2025|340b, Affordable Care Act, Congress, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, post-acute care, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for September 11

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for September 5-11. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress With fewer than three weeks until the end of the federal fiscal year, congressional leaders are beginning to devise a strategy to avoid a federal government shutdown on October 1. Whatever strategy they ultimately adopt will certainly involve some form of continuing resolution (CR). Some conservatives in Congress would like to see a full-year CR that would keep funding at current levels and permit the President to cut spending via rescissions. Appropriators [...]

joe2025-09-11T16:41:56-04:00September 11, 2025|340b, Affordable Care Act, Congress, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

House to Mull Cutting HHS Budget

The House Appropriations Committee has released a new budget proposal that would reduce the Department of Health and Human Services’ budget by six percent in the coming year. Overall, the proposal calls for reducing HHS’s discretionary budget by $13.7 billion. Much of that cut would come from a proposed reduction of 19 percent in the budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The proposed budget also calls for $100 million for Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) funding; the elimination of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; and maintaining funding for Head Start at its current $12.3 billion. [...]

joe2025-09-02T17:18:32-04:00September 3, 2025|Congress|

Federal Health Policy Update for August 21

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for August 15-21. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The House and Senate are in recess and will return to Washington D.C. on September 2. Funding for the federal government expires on September 30, as will a number of health care extenders, including for telehealth flexibilities, the Acute Hospital Care at Home program, the Medicare-dependent hospital and low-volume hospital programs, and delays to Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) allotments. In the fall, Congress is considering pursuing health care legislation along two [...]

joe2025-08-21T14:43:11-04:00August 21, 2025|Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, COVID-19, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare, Medicare cuts, Medicare reimbursement policy, post-acute care, Telehealth|

Potential Implications of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

The publication Health Affairs has published a number of newsletters and articles about the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill and its potential implications for consumers and providers. To learn more, see the following pieces: “The BBB: Consumer Choice and Market Competition” “The Budget Bill’s Impact on Immigrant Access to Health Care” “The 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' Now Law, Does Not Protect Rural Hospitals” “With Budget Reconciliation Bill Enacted, Health Care Changes Loom” “The Big Beautiful Bill: A New Era for Health Policy? w/ Katie Keith” “Trump's Deregulation Era & The Big Budget Reconciliation's Health Care Impact w/ Katie Keith” Subscriptions [...]

joe2025-08-19T15:27:30-04:00August 21, 2025|Congress, hospitals|

Federal Health Policy Update for August 7

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for August 2-7. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The House and Senate are both in recess. When Congress returns in September its top priority will be funding the federal government before the fiscal year ends on September 30, likely requiring a continuing resolution to avoid a shutdown. Several major health care programs and extenders are set to expire at the end of the fiscal year, including Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) allotments, telehealth flexibilities, the Acute Hospital Care at Home [...]

joe2025-08-07T15:29:33-04:00August 7, 2025|340b, Congress, COVID-19, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

The Coming Medicaid Work Requirement

Among the many Medicaid-related aspects of the recently enacted FY 2026 budget reconciliation bill – the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – is a new requirement that much of the Medicaid population be employed or participate in some acceptable form of “community engagement.” But how will the work requirement work? How will it be implemented and enforced? KFF has taken an in-depth look at this matter, reporting on such issues as: What the new law requires. The timeline for the work requirement’s implementation. How much money the states and the federal government stand to save by ending Medicaid How many [...]

joe2025-08-05T17:24:07-04:00August 6, 2025|Congress, Medicaid|

The New Rural Health Fund

Recognizing that the Medicaid and other health care cuts in the recently enacted FY 2026 budget reconciliation bill – the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill – will exact a heavy toll on rural hospitals, Congress included in that bill a short-term Rural Health Fund designed to help ameliorate the impact of some of the cuts it was adopting. KFF Health has taken a closer look at the Rural Health Fund, how it is structured, and how it is expected to work and has identified some of the bill’s major components. They include: The rural health fund includes $50 billion, which [...]

joe2025-07-23T10:30:29-04:00July 23, 2025|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, hospitals, Medicaid|

OBBB Implementation Timeline

DeBrunner & Associates has prepared a timeline presenting the timeline showing the stages through which the FY 2026 federal budget reconciliation bill (the “One Big Beautiful Bill”) will be implemented. Find it here.

joe2025-07-17T15:53:25-04:00July 21, 2025|Congress, Medicaid, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

The Potential Impact of the Senate’s Proposed Medicaid Cuts

After the House passed its FY 2025 budget reconciliation bill the Senate took up its own bill, with the Senate Finance Committee proposing more than $800 billion in Medicaid cuts through a combination of reduced future Medicaid provider taxes, new limits on state directed payments made through Medicaid managed care plans, new Medicaid work requirements, more frequent redetermination of Medicaid eligibility, a shorter period of retroactive eligibility for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and more. The Senate continues to debate these proposals, with some members believing they are necessary and appropriate and others arguing that they would have [...]

joe2025-06-25T12:53:57-04:00June 26, 2025|Congress, Medicaid|