Medicaid

Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, April 27

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27. The White House COVID-19 The White House has posted a transcript of the April 23 press briefing provided by its COVID-19 response team and public health officials. Health Policy News The White House has nominated Miriam Delphin-Rittmon to serve as Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use in the Department of Health and Human Services. The nomination is subject to Senate confirmation. Congress The New Democrat Coalition is a group of 94 mostly centrist Democrats working to bridge the gap [...]

iqtsupport2021-04-27T22:25:58-04:00April 27, 2021|Congress, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicare|

Feds Rescind Texas Medicaid Waiver

A federal Medicaid waiver approved for the state of Texas in the waning days of the Trump administration has been rescinded by the Biden administration. The waiver called for spending as much as $100 billion for health care for low-income Texans over the next ten years. Officially, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services revoked the waiver on technical grounds, maintaining that the agency “… erred in exempting the state from the normal public notice process – a critical priority for soliciting stakeholder feedback and ensuring public awareness.” The Washington Post, however, reports that according to two unnamed federal health [...]

iqtsupport2021-04-22T06:00:32-04:00April 22, 2021|Affordable Care Act, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicaid|

Medicaid Changes Coming?

In office only three months, it appears the new administration has its sights set on expanding Medicaid. According to the Washington Post, Medicaid expansion could be in the works in several areas, including: elimination of work requirements Medicaid expansion in more states extended coverage for women who give birth increased funding for home-based care easier enrollment processes increased coverage for recent immigrants and prisoners Learn more about possible Medicaid changes to come in the Washington Post article “Trump tried to shrink Medicaid. Here's how Biden will try to expand it."

iqtsupport2021-04-20T06:00:09-04:00April 20, 2021|Medicaid|

Medicaid Coverage “Cliff” Poses Threat to Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries

Nearly one-third of Medicare beneficiaries do not meet the criteria for Medicaid eligibility but have so little income that they are unlikely to be able to afford their share of their Medicare costs, such as co-pays and deductibles. This is known as the “Medicaid coverage cliff,” and Becker’s Hospital Review, drawing from a recent study published in the journal Health Affairs, takes a brief look at what the Medicaid cliff is and how it may affect the well-being of those affected by this cliff. Learn more in the Becker’s Hospital Review article “5 things to know about the Medicaid coverage [...]

iqtsupport2021-04-16T06:00:43-04:00April 16, 2021|Medicaid, Medicare|

Federal Health Policy Update for Wednesday, April 14

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, April 14. Temporary Halt to Use of the Johnson & Johnson Janssen Vaccine The White House held a press briefing on Tuesday, April 13 during which the White House press secretary, its COVID-19 response coordinator, and Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed the decision to halt administration of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine until its safety can be further examined. Learn more from a transcript of that briefing. Representatives of the FDA and CDC briefed the news media on the situation involving the [...]

iqtsupport2021-04-14T17:11:09-04:00April 14, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19, Medicaid, 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|

Medicaid Work Requirements on the Way Out?

Medicaid work requirements appear to be going away in the wake of the Supreme Court agreeing to a Biden administration request to postpone arguments in a case brought by the Trump administration seeking to reverse previous court rulings blocking implementation of such requirements. To date, 12 states have received federal approval to implement Medicaid work requirements although only one such effort, in Arkansas, ever got off the ground. All of the efforts eventually stalled in the face of legal challenges and administrative obstacles. Upon taking office, the Biden administration informed the 12 states that it was considering withdrawing their approvals [...]

iqtsupport2021-03-16T13:00:38-04:00March 16, 2021|Medicaid, Medicaid regulations|

2019 Change in Public Charge Rule to Disappear

Shortly after taking office the Biden administration stopped enforcing 2019 changes in the so-called public charge rule and now the Supreme Court has agreed to a Justice Department request to dismiss an upcoming case challenging that rule. The public charge rule, as updated in 2019, calls for all legal immigrants enrolled in Medicaid and certain other safety-net programs to be designated public charges and denied access to permanent U.S. residency and green card status. Hospitals feared that the revised rule would have a chilling effect on the willingness of some legal citizens and legal non-citizens to seek out government health [...]

iqtsupport2021-03-16T06:00:01-04:00March 16, 2021|Medicaid|

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|

Medicare Pays Far More Than Medicaid for Brand-Name Drugs

Medicare pays three times as much for brand-name drugs at retail pharmacies as Medicaid and two-and-a-half times more for specialty drugs, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. The vast difference occurs because of how drug prices are established for the two programs. Under Medicare Part D, individual payers and manufacturers negotiate prices based on commercial market conditions while for Medicaid, federal law requires manufacturers to provide rebates. Learn more about the differences between Medicare and Medicaid prescription drug prices, how and why those differences occur, and their implications in the CBO report “A Comparison of Brand-Name [...]

iqtsupport2021-02-26T06:00:54-05:00February 26, 2021|Medicaid, Medicare|