MACPAC Meets
Members of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met last week in Washington, D.C. During the course of the deliberations, MACPAC’s staff made the following presentations to the commissioners: Automation in Medicaid Prior Authorization: Recommendations Exploring the Role [...]
Hospital at Home Proving its Worth?
A new study suggests that hospital at home programs are producing positive results for patients and the health care system. Positive results such as greater comfort for patients, fewer returns to the hospital emergency department within 30 days of discharge, [...]
The Latest CMS Efforts on Prior Authorization
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services continues to work tackling the challenges posed by health insurers that insist they will not pay for certain medical services unless they authorize those services beforehand. In a new blog post, CMS Administrator [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for May 7
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for May 1-7. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Congress hopes to pass a reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs [...]
States Continue to Prep for Medicaid Eligibility Changes
With last year’s budget reconciliation bill – also known as H.R. 1 and the “Big Beautiful Bill Act” – requiring most Medicaid beneficiaries to have jobs or participate in community engagement activities beginning next year, the states continue to develop [...]
HHS to Attack Overprescribing of Psychiatric Drugs
The Department of Health and Human Services is launching a campaign to reduce the frequency with which providers prescribe drugs for patients with behavioral health challenges. The new campaign, announced earlier this week, will seek to analyze prescribing patterns for [...]
ASH Urges CMS to Support Public-Private Partnerships to Aid Medicaid Eligibility Redeterminations
In a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Deputy Administrator Daniel Brillman, the Alliance of Safety-Net Hospitals encouraged CMS to “…enable states to enter into public/private partnerships to leverage private funds to support their efforts to comply with [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for April 30
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for April 24-30. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Yesterday, House Republicans adopted the Senate’s budget resolution, clearing the way for [...]
Some States Seek to Expand Medicaid Work Requirements
While last year’s H.R. 1, often referred to as the “One Big Beautiful Act Bill,” introduced a requirement that Medicaid applicants document that they have worked, attended school, or participated in some form of community engagement for one month as [...]
Feds End Support for Fentanyl Test Strips
The federal government will no longer help states pay for fentanyl test strips. This was among several messages included in a “Dear Colleague” letter sent late last week by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to [...]
