The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for March 13-19.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.

The White House

President Trump has issued an executive order creating a Task Force to Eliminate Fraud that “…shall, on behalf of the President, coordinate and accelerate a comprehensive national strategy to stop fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs, including programs administered jointly with State, local, tribal, and territorial partners.”  The vice president will chair the task force, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is among its members, and the executive order specifically mentions concerns involving eligibility for federal health care services and the delivery of those services.  Learn more about the rationale underlying the task force’s creation from the executive order creating the group and from an accompanying White House fact sheet.

Congress

• Congress remains focused on health care affordability issues, including fraud, waste, and abuse.  Specifically:
• • The Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing titled “Protecting Patients and Safeguarding Taxpayer Dollars:  The Role of CMS in Combatting Medicare and Medicaid Fraud,” which addressed the expansion of fraud investigations.  Learn more from this committee news release, the testimony of CMS Deputy Administrator Kim Brandt, and this video of the hearing.

• • The Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health held a hearing titled “Lowering Health Care Costs for All Americans:  An Examination of the U.S. Provider Landscape.”  This was the third discussion in the committee’s health care affordability series that examines how payment policies, competition, and transparency affect patient access and the cost of care.  The opening remarks of Chairman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) highlighted hospital consolidations, vertical integration, Medicare site-neutral payment policy, and the 340B Drug Pricing Program.  Learn more from this committee news release, the chairman’s statement, and this video of the hearing.
  • The Ways and Means Committee is expected to host a similar hearing this spring.  Updates will be posted to the committee’s official calendar.

• Twelve Senate Democrats have circulated a letter to their colleagues outlining what they believe their party’s health policy priorities should be if they gain control of Congress in this November’s election.  Find that letter here.
• Congress and the White House still have not agreed on a solution for funding the Department of Homeland Security, which has entered its second month of a partial shutdown.
• Both chambers of Congress are in session this week and next, followed by a two-week recess in April.

No Surprises Act/Independent Dispute Resolution Process

The federal Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process established under the 2020 No Surprises Act will transition from single-use web forms to a new “IDR Gateway” in the latter half of 2026, CMS has announced.  Previewing a process that it anticipates officially unveiling in the near future, CMS notes that through this new gateway, users will be able to start and respond to disputes; gain access to dispute dashboards and reports associated with their organization; track dispute information, including disputes assigned to a certified IDR entity; monitor assigned disputes by process phase; and review notifications regarding dispute activity.  The new gateway will include new security features as well.  Learn more from this CMS preview of its plans for the IDR process.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

• CMS is accepting applications for additional residency positions that were created under section 126 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.  Go here for information on how to apply and here for an FAQ on the additional residency slots and the selection criteria.  The deadline for applying for the slots is March 31.
• CMS has posted a bulletin summarizing changes in the Medicare outpatient prospective payment system that take effect on April 1.  Find that bulletin here.
• CMS has posted a Notice of Funding Opportunity for its MAHA ELEVATE (Make America Healthy Again:  Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based Approaches Through Evidence) Model.  Through the program, announced last December, CMS will provide approximately $100 million to fund three-year cooperative agreements for up to 30 proposals that seek to promote health and prevention for original Medicare participants.  The proposals are expected to employ evidence-based, whole-person care approaches, including functional or lifestyle medicine interventions, that are not currently covered by Medicare.  These approaches are intended to support, not replace, the care that people with Medicare receive.  Learn more about the program and CMS’s expectations from this CMS news release and find the Notice of Funding Opportunity here.  Applicants must submit a letter of intent by April 10 and the application deadline is May 15.
• CMS has previewed the reporting requirements it expects to impose on recipients of Rural Health Transformation Program funding.  While those recipients will be state governments, providers that participate in their states’ programs should expect to be required to provide such data to their state governments.  Find the proposed reporting requirements here (scroll down to and click the link in the “Downloads” section, which will open a zip file) and from this slide deck from a February 25 webinar on the program’s reporting and rescoring expectations.
• The manufacturers of 15 drugs payable under Medicare Part B and/or covered under Medicare Part D have chosen to participate in the third cycle of negotiations with CMS under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program.  Find a list of the drugs and drug companies and an overview of how the program and the negotiations will work in this CMS news release.
• CMS will release data submitted to it by participants in Medicare’s Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative between April 1, 2023 and September 30, 2025.  A previous data release covered the time from the program’s launch in November of 2020 through March of 2023, giving researchers access to nearly five years of data on the program.  Learn more about the program, the available data, and how to gain access to the data from this CMS news release.
• CMS has added the following item to its Quality Payment Program resource library.  (Note:  clicking this link may give a prompt to download a file that may be a zip file.)
  • Technical Corrections to the 2026 Quality Payment Program Final Rule

Department of Health and Human Services

• HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has announced updates to the funding methodology used to calculate Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Parts A and B formula awards.  HRSA explains that the change seeks to better align resources with jurisdictions where people with HIV currently live and receive care and treatment.  Learn more about the changes from this HRSA news release and this formal regulatory notice.
• HRSA has awarded more than $5 million to 26 teaching health centers that operate primary care medical and dental residency programs at rural and community health centers through its Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program.  The THCGME program supports training in community-based outpatient settings, with research showing that clinicians are more likely to practice in underserved and rural communities when they train in such settings.  Learn more about the program and the awarded funding from this HRSA news release and go here to find a list of the grant recipients.

HHS/Office of the Inspector General (OIG)

• The OIG has published two reports detailing audit findings on the prescription of antipsychotic drugs to nursing home residents:
  • “Nursing Homes’ Inappropriate Use of Antipsychotic Drugs Poses a Risk to Residents”
  • “Nursing Homes Inappropriately Diagnosed Residents with Schizophrenia to Mask the Misuse of Antipsychotic Drugs”
• The OIG has issued a favorable opinion on a proposal to subsidize certain cost-sharing obligations in the context of a clinical trial.  Find that opinion here.
• The OIG has added the following projects to its work plan for upcoming audits:
  • Treatment Planning and Medication Monitoring for Children in Foster Care Receiving Psychotropic Medication
  • Congressional Mandate:  Noncovered Versions of Part B Drugs in 2025
  • Audit of Medicare Payments for Chronic Care Management Services at Risk of Noncompliance
  • Evaluation and Management Services on Same Day as Minor Surgery With No Modifier 25
  • Inpatient Claims for Neurostimulator Implantation Surgeries
  • Utilization and Oversight of Medicare Part C Supplemental Benefits for Over-the-Counter Items
  • Audit of Federal Reimbursement Made to States for Certain Medicaid Services and Exclusion of Services That Should Have Been Fully Funded by States
  • Data Brief: Selected States’ Medicaid Coverage of Emergency Services for Nonqualified Aliens

Medicaid State Plan Amendments

CMS has approved the following state plan amendments for Medicaid and CHIP programs.

• To Alabama, applying the reimbursement methodology for inpatient and outpatient hospital services for the state fiscal year 2026 in a manner consistent with that used in state fiscal year 2025.
• To California, updating the state’s excluded drug list, including the exclusion of GLP-1 drugs used for weight loss from the Medi-Cal program.
• To the District of Columbia, updating the fee schedule for dental and orthodontist services.
• To Michigan, increasing the Medicaid home help individual caregiver hourly rate to align with Michigan’s minimum wage increase.
• To Minnesota, adding qualifications for certain providers of mental health targeted case management services and updating outdated state plan language.
• To Missouri, adding coverage for ground ambulance emergency transportation to behavioral health crisis centers for individuals experiencing behavioral health crises.
• To Nevada, establishing coverage and payment for a new psychiatric residential treatment service category titled “Rehabilitative Residential Mental Health Care,” also referred to as “Community Residential Mental Health Services” under the rehabilitative services benefit.
• To New Hampshire, updating the quarterly pool amount and total Medicaid day count (used in the distribution formula) for New Hampshire’s nursing facility supplemental payment, also known as MQIP, for both private and non-state government-owned and operated facilities.
• To Pennsylvania, permitting the state to update its coverage limitations of weight-loss agents.
• To South Carolina, permitting South Carolina to update the reimbursement methodology for drugs purchased through the HRSA 340B Program.
• To South Dakota, updating the Attachment 3.1-L Substance Use Disorders/Institutions for Mental Diseases template pages and revising the list of providers included in the random moment in time study cost pool for school-based direct services and/or administrative claiming activities.
• To Washington, clarifying carved out transplant services from DRG reimbursement methodology.
• To Washington, updating the payment methodology for certain pharmaceuticals provided in outpatient hospital settings and clarifying that certain pharmaceuticals will be paid using the pharmacy fee schedule.
• To Washington, updating the cost report numbering from the previous version throughout the certified public expenditure protocol section of the state plan.

HHS Newsletters, Reports, and Videos

• CMS – MLN Connects – March 19
• CMS – CMS held a burden reduction conference on February 25 and has posted five videos from that conference:
  • keynote address
  • using AI tools to empower clinicians and patients
  • transforming chronic care
  • achieving increased transparency in health care
  • closing keynote address
• HHS/Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) – Office for the Advancement of Telehealth – Announcements – March 17
• CDC – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) – March 12
  • “Measles Outbreak – New Mexico, 2025”
  • “Interim Estimates of 2025-26 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness – United States, September 2025-February 2026”
  • “Interim Estimates of 2025-26 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness – California, October 2025-January 2026”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The CDC reported a multistate outbreak of E. coli infections related to raw cheddar cheese from Raw Farm.  Seven people in California, Florida, and Texas have been infected, two people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have occurred.  Learn more about this infection’s scope and the symptoms of infection from this CDC news release.

Stakeholder Events

CMS/eCQI Resource Center – 2026 Pre-Rulemaking Cycle Kick-Off Webinar – March 24

CMS’s eCQI Resource Center will hold a 2026 pre-rulemaking kick-off webinar on Tuesday, March 24 at 2:00 (eastern).  During the session, CMS will cover measure selection considerations; present an overview of the pre-rulemaking process; describe resources available on the measure selection hub pre-rulemaking web page; and outline updates for the 2026 submission cycle.  CMS staff also will take questions from participants.  Learn more about the event from this CMS notice and go here to register to participate.

HHS/Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response – Strengthening Health Care Cyber Resilience:  RISC 2.0 Webinar – March 30

HHS’s Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) will hold a webinar on March 30 at 2:00 (eastern) to explain how its new RISC (Risk Identification and Site Criticality) 2.0 cybersecurity module can help health care organizations assess vulnerabilities and fill gaps in their cyber defenses.  Learn more about the webinar and find registration information in this ASPR notice.

CMS – Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program Public Engagement Events – April 6-23

From April 6 through April 23, CMS will hold a series of public information events to gather stakeholder information about its Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program and the specific prescription drugs covered by that program.  The agency invites patients, caregivers, clinicians, and others to share their experience relevant to the drugs selected for negotiation and renegotiation under the program.  Learn more from this CMS bulletin about the public informational events and learn more about the individual events, the specific drug or drugs each event will address, and how to participate from this CMS web page.

MedPAC – Commissioners Meeting – April 9-10

MedPAC’s commissioners will hold their next public meeting virtually on Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10.  An agenda for the meeting and information about how to participate have not yet been posted; when they are, they will be found here.

MACPAC – Commissioners Meeting – April 9-10

MACPAC’s commissioners will hold their next public meeting virtually on Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10.  Go here to register to participate.

CMS – Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program 2026 Supplier Summit – April 23

CMS will hold a Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program supplier summit on Thursday, April 23 at noon (eastern) to help program participants and suppliers learn about how the program can benefit their organization and community, learn about the differences between program delivery modalities, and receive important updates from CMS and the CDC about the new online delivery option.  Learn more about the event from this CMS notice and go here to register to participate.

HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology/Health Information Technology Advisory Committee – May 7

The Health Information Technology Advisory Committee of HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy will hold its next meeting on Thursday, May 7.  This committee’s role is to identify priorities for standards adoption and make recommendations to the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy.  Learn more about the committee, its structure, and its purpose from this HHS notice, which also outlines the meeting’s agenda.  Information about how to participate in the meeting is not yet available but when it is it will be posted here.  Other 2026 meetings will be held on September 24 and November 5.