Medicaid

New Health Care Leaders Share Priorities

New leaders at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation are quickly making their priorities known to health care industry stakeholders. For new CMS administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, her priority is coverage. She has declared that “Our focus is going to be on making sure regulations and policies are going to be focused on improving coverage,” and while she hopes that states that have not yet expanded their Medicaid programs will take advantage of current federal incentives to do so, there is another path to coverage: “…the public option or other coverage certainly [...]

iqtsupport2021-06-10T06:00:44-04:00June 10, 2021|Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicaid|

Health Policy Update for Tuesday, June 8

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House Health Policy News The White House, HHS, HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, and the FDA have announced a series of policy recommendations to address vulnerabilities in U.S. pharmaceutical supply chains. Under one of these recommendations, HHS, under the Defense Production Act and building on current public-private partnerships, will establish a public-private consortium for advanced domestic manufacturing of essential medicines production. The [...]

iqtsupport2021-06-08T17:24:26-04:00June 8, 2021|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare regulations|

Medicaid Enrollment Continues to Rise

Medicaid enrollment in 36 states rose 17.7 percent from February 2020 to March 2021. Leading the way were two Medicaid expansion states, Utah and Nebraska, which saw their Medicaid enrollment increase 37.6 percent and 30.9 percent, respectively.Other states with major increases in Medicaid enrollment were Missouri (26.5 percent), Illinois (26.3 percent), and Indiana (25.7 percent). The increases appear to have been driven by pandemic-related job losses and the accompanying economic downturn. Learn more about where and why Medicaid enrollment is rising from the article “What is Happening With Medicaid Enrollment in Q1 of 2021?” on the web site of the [...]

iqtsupport2021-06-08T06:00:02-04:00June 8, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19, Medicaid|

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|

Medicare Beneficiaries Happier With Their Health Insurance Than Privately Insured

People who are enrolled in Medicare are happier with their health insurance than those with private health insurance, according to a recent JAMA report. Researchers found that the privately insured had a more difficult time finding doctors, were less likely to have a personal physician, had to deal with higher medical costs, were more likely to have medical debt, were more likely not to fill prescriptions because of their cost, and were less satisfied with their care than people insured by Medicare. The findings were true whether people purchased their own health insurance or had employer-sponsored insurance. Learn more about [...]

iqtsupport2021-06-03T06:00:26-04:00June 3, 2021|Medicaid, Medicare|

Cost-Sharing Drives Medicaid Disenrollment

Cost-sharing requirements appear to lead people to disenroll from Medicaid programs that impose such requirements, according to a new study. Those disenrolling are likely to be healthier in general than those who choose to remain enrolled in Medicaid despite cost-sharing requirements. This is among the findings in a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research of Michigan’s Medicaid program, which was one of the first in the country to be authorized to require certain beneficiaries to share in their medical costs. Such disenrollments also may lead to adverse selection among health care plans that serve Medicaid patients.Learn more about [...]

iqtsupport2021-05-21T06:00:23-04:00May 21, 2021|Medicaid|

Federal Health Policy Update for Friday, May 14

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 14. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The CDC and Mask Guidance The CDC has updated its guidance on when people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 do and do not need to wear masks and when they do and do not need to seek testing when they believe they have been exposed to someone with the virus. This is the guidance that was released amid a great deal of public attention on Thursday. The [...]

iqtsupport2021-05-14T16:26:03-04:00May 14, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicare|

Medicaid Enrollment Rises During Pandemic, But…

As expected, Medicaid enrollment has risen during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published on the JAMA Network. But necessarily for the reason that might be expected. According to the report, Medicaid enrollment rose from 48.2 million to 51.8 million between January 2019 and September 2020, or 1.6 percent, in Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion states and from 17.2 million to 18.8 million, or 1.4 percent, in non-Medicaid expansion states.While a natural assumption would be that growth in Medicaid enrollment would track growth in pandemic-caused growth in unemployment, the analysis found the opposite to be true: “…enrollment growth was [...]

iqtsupport2021-05-07T06:00:40-04:00May 7, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19, 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|