Supreme Court Lifts Public Charge Rule Ban
The U.S. can now reject visa and green card applicants based on their financial prospects after a new Supreme Court ruling this week. This ruling has potential long-term implications for health care providers. Last August a new Department of Homeland [...]
340B Doesn’t Drive Up Hospital Drug Spending, MedPAC Says
Hospitals do not prescribe more expensive drugs because they know the 340B program will help pay for them. That is the conclusion drawn in a recent analysis by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. Prescription drug spending has risen markedly in [...]
MedPAC Meets
Last week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. to discuss a number of Medicare payment issues. The issues on MedPAC’s January agenda were: The Medicare prescription drug program (Part D): status report and options for restructuring Redesigning the [...]
States Not Waiting for Feds to Act on More Affordable Health Insurance
Frustrated over the inability of the federal government to develop and implement policies that make health insurance more affordable, a number of states are taking matters into their own hands in a variety of ways. In 2018 and 2019 at [...]
GAO: Feds Need Better Oversight of 340B Eligibility
The federal government needs to do a better job of ensuring that non-government hospital participants in the 340B prescription drug discount program are eligible for that program, the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded in a recent report. With growing numbers [...]
Interview With Seema Verma
In late December, PBS broadcast an interview with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Seema Verma. Kaiser Health News has published a transcript of excerpts from that interview during which Verma discusses Medicaid – including enrollment, eligibility, services, and [...]
Medicare Money for Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant Training?
Should Medicare offer graduate medical education money for nurse practitioner and physician assistant training? That was the subject of a recent inquiry by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. In a new report inspired by concern over the current physician shortage [...]
Medicaid DSH Cut Delayed
Scheduled cuts in Medicaid DSH payments to hospitals will be delayed until at least late May under new federal spending legislation. The cuts in Medicaid disproportionate share allotments to the states, mandated by the Affordable Care Act and delayed several [...]
A Look at Surprise Medical Bill Legislation
While Congress’s decision this week to put off addressing the surprise medical bill challenge until next year has disappointed many, that decision did not reflect any lack of ideas for what to do. At last count, various parts of Congress [...]
