Medicaid

Federal Health Policy Update for March 5

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for February 27-March 6. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a full committee markup of nine bills addressing cybersecurity and digital safety. See that list here. Also on Thursday, the Senate HELP Committee conducted a hearing titled “Transforming Health Care with Data: Improving Patient Outcomes Through Next-Generation Care.” Find video of the hearing here. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) expressed interest in passing another reconciliation bill this year that would include policies addressing [...]

sysadmin2026-03-06T15:58:46-05:00March 6, 2026|ACO, Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Medicaid, Medicaid regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

States, Hospitals, Patients Brace for Big Beautiful Bill Effects

The effects of last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act will soon be felt by states, providers, and consumers and some of them are already preparing for the impact. States face an expected loss of $664 billion in Medicaid money over the next eight years as a result of 12 provisions in the 2025 law. The major causes: Medicaid work requirements that will reduce eligibility, more frequent eligibility redeterminations, and tougher limits on revenue-generating Medicaid provider taxes and Medicaid managed care state-directed payments. Some states will lose more than others. The biggest losers, by percentage, will be Arizona, Iowa, and [...]

joe2026-03-03T16:52:49-05:00March 4, 2026|hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations|

Federal Health Policy Update for February 26

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for February 20-26. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Both chambers of Congress are in session this week and next. The partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security that began on February 23 continues. The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing titled “Advancing the Next Generation of America’s Health Care Workforce” to examine the shortage of resident physicians and explore ways to strengthen rural health care providers and Graduate Medical Education (GME). Watch the hearing and review the witness testimony here. Centers for Medicare & [...]

joe2026-02-26T15:43:01-05:00February 26, 2026|340b, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, COVID-19, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for February 19

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for February 13-19. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Congress is not in session this week and will return on Monday, February 23. The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing titled “Next Generation of Health Care Workforce” on Tuesday, February 24. View a livestream of the hearing here. The Courts A federal court has vacated the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) 2024 overhaul of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Premerger Notification Rule. That rule expanded disclosure requirements, requiring filings for transactions valued [...]

joe2026-02-19T15:40:16-05:00February 19, 2026|340b, Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare regulations|

Federal Health Policy Update for February 12

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for February 6-12. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The White House The White House announced the launch of TrumpRx, a service that will enable consumers to purchase a limited number of discounted prescription drugs directly from the manufacturers of those drugs and in some cases from pharmacies without the benefit of health or prescription drug insurance. Learn more about TrumpRx and its launch from this White House announcement, an accompanying fact sheet, and the TrumpRx web site. Congress Following passage of [...]

joe2026-02-12T16:12:39-05:00February 12, 2026|340b, Affordable Care Act, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

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 that is lower than – and often much lower than [...]

joe2026-02-05T16:51:38-05:00February 10, 2026|Medicaid|

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 the expired insurance premium subsidies. Learn more about the challenges [...]

joe2026-02-05T15:07:41-05:00February 9, 2026|Affordable Care Act, hospitals, Medicaid|

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) allotments to the states for both FY 2026 and FY [...]

Federal Health Policy Update for January 29

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 23-29. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The Senate today failed to advance a package of the remaining six FY 2026 appropriations bills, including funding for the Department of Health and Human Services. Democratic senators continue negotiating with the White House on how to proceed with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding, including the possibility of separating the DHS bill from the broader appropriations package and making targeted amendments to that measure. The Labor, HHS, Education, and Related Agencies bill, [...]

joe2026-02-02T08:58:43-05:00January 29, 2026|Affordable Care Act, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|

Erosion of Rural Maternity Care Continues

At a rate of more than two a month since the end of 2020, rural hospitals have closed or announced that they will be closing their maternity units – 124 in all by the end of 2026. As a result, today only a little more than 40 percent of rural hospitals – most of them safety-net hospitals – continue to provide maternity services, with fewer than a third of such rural hospitals doing so in 12 states. The hospitals blame a number of factors for this continued erosion, including inadequate private insurance and Medicaid payments and difficulty recruiting the providers [...]

joe2026-01-27T16:25:01-05:00January 28, 2026|hospitals, Medicaid|