MACPAC

Federal Health Policy Update for Monday, June 28

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, June 28. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Supreme Court Decision in Affordable Care Act Case The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of a case in which insurers unsuccessfully sued to recover reductions in their Affordable Care Act federal cost-sharing reduction payments. White House The White House has posted a transcript of the June 22 press briefing given by its COVID-19 response team and public health officials. Department of Health and Human Services [...]

iqtsupport2021-06-28T17:33:25-04:00June 28, 2021|Affordable Care Act, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicare, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, June 15

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Provider Relief Fund Late last week HHS announced that it has increased the amount of time providers will have to report information and extended key deadlines for expending Provider Relief Fund payments for recipients that received payments after June 30, 2020. The revised reporting requirements will be applicable to providers that received one or more payments exceeding, in the aggregate, $10,000 during a single payment-received period from the [...]

iqtsupport2021-06-15T17:31:26-04:00June 15, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for Thursday, June 3

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 3. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House Health Policy News Late last week the Biden administration released its proposed FY 2022 budget. Most of the health care provisions had already been disclosed and discussed prior to the formal budget release. For additional information about the proposed budget, see the following resources: A budget in brief document. An OMB summary. An OMB budget fact sheet. COVID-19 President Biden announced a “National Month of Action” [...]

iqtsupport2021-06-03T17:30:36-04:00June 3, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for Wednesday, May 5

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 5. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The White House COVID-19 The White House has posted a transcript of the May 5 press briefing by its COVID-19 response team and public health officials. Department of Health and Human Services COVID-19 HHS has created a web page for its new COVID-19 Coverage Assistance Fund through which providers can be reimbursed for the cost of administering COVID-19 vaccines to the uninsured and to those whose health insurance [...]

iqtsupport2021-05-05T17:25:41-04:00May 5, 2021|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, post-acute care|

Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, April 20

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20. Congress This afternoon Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) put a hold on the president’s nomination of Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to be CMS administrator in response to the administration’s decision to revoke a Medicaid waiver the previous administration granted to his state. The White House COVID-19 The White House has posted a transcript of the April 19 press briefing provided by its COVID-19 response team and public health officials. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services COVID-19 CMS has issued section 1135 waivers to Colorado, Maine, [...]

iqtsupport2021-04-20T17:08:52-04:00April 20, 2021|Congress, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicare|

MACPAC Meets

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met for two days last week in Washington, D.C. The following is MACPAC’s own summary of the sessions. MACPAC kicked off its April meeting with a review of a draft chapter for the June 2021 report to Congress and recommendations on addressing high-cost specialty drugs. Since 2017, the Commission has been working to identify potential models that could help states address the challenges of high prices. The presentation focused on drugs that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the accelerated approval pathway. Such approvals are based [...]

iqtsupport2021-04-14T06:00:46-04:00April 14, 2021|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid regulations|

Health Policy Update for Monday, April 12

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, April 12. The White House COVID-19 The White House has posted a transcript of the April 12 press briefing provided by its COVID-19 response team and public health officials. Health Policy and Budget News The Biden administration has released its proposed FY 2022 discretionary budget, which addresses, among other things, many aspects of health care policy. Find the news release announcing the proposed budget here and the budget document itself here. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services COVID-19 CMS has updated its [...]

iqtsupport2021-04-12T17:29:32-04:00April 12, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC|

MACPAC Looks at Recipients of Provider Relief Fund Grants

What kinds of providers did and did not receive grants from the CARES Act’s Provider Relief Fund? What were the obstacles to receiving those COVID-19 relief grants and why did some providers fare better in the distribution of Provider Relief Fund resources than others? These questions and more are addressed in “COVID Relief Funding for Medicaid Providers,” a new analysis released by the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission.

iqtsupport2021-03-05T06:00:44-05:00March 5, 2021|MACPAC, Medicaid|

MACPAC Meets

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met for two days last week in Washington, D.C. The following is MACPAC’s own summary of the sessions. The October 2020 MACPAC meeting opened with a panel discussion on restarting Medicaid eligibility redeterminations when the public health emergency ends. It included Jennifer Wagner, director of Medicaid eligibility and enrollment at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; René Mollow, deputy director for health care benefits and eligibility at the California Department of Health Care Services; and Lee Guice, director of policy and operations at the Department for Medicaid Services, Kentucky Cabinet for [...]

iqtsupport2020-11-05T06:00:25-05:00November 5, 2020|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicaid regulations|

MACPAC Meets

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met for two days last week in Washington, D.C. The following is MACPAC’s own summary of the sessions. The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission kicked off its December meeting with highlights from its forthcoming issue of MACStats: Medicaid and CHIP Data Book, due out December 18, 2019. MACStats brings together statistics on Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment and spending, federal matching rates, eligibility levels, and access to care measures, which come from multiple sources. Later the Commission discussed a proposed rule that the Centers for Medicare [...]

iqtsupport2019-12-16T13:50:19-05:00December 16, 2019|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid regulations, Medicaid upper-payment limit|