Medicare & Medicaid
News articles in this section include actions by federal regulators like the CMS and HHS, as well as information on Medicare and state Medicaid coverage and benefits.
More than a million fewer people have signed up for Affordable Care Act coverage for 2026, according to federal data released Wednesday. The drop comes after the expiration of the enhanced federal premium subsidies caused monthly payments to skyrocket for many enrollees. Just under 23 million people selected plans for 2026, according to the Centers for Medicare ...
Medicare Advantage health plans are blasting a government proposal this week that would keep their reimbursement rates flat next year while making other payment changes. But some health policy experts say the plan could help reduce billions of dollars in overcharges that have been common in the program for more than a decade. On Jan. ...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule Thursday afternoon, clamping down on states’ Medicaid provider taxes. The changes to address what the agency has described as “loopholes” and “a Medicaid financing gimmick” were floated last May in a proposed rule and since codified by the summer’s One Big, Beautiful Bill Act. CMS said ...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office is demanding a civil rights investigation of Dr. Mehmet Oz, saying he discriminated against Armenians in a video claiming hospice fraud in Los Angeles, the latest front in the state’s ongoing battle with the Trump administration. The Democratic governor’s complaint, filed Thursday, came after Oz posted a video on social media in front ...
Health insurers are warning that flat Medicare Advantage rates, as proposed by the Trump administration late Monday, would likely force them to take a deep look at the benefits they offer. Chris Bond, spokesperson for AHIP, the key lobbying organization for the insurance industry, said in a statement that the organization and its members “welcome reforms ...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is continuing to pay Medicare Advantage (MA) plans more — $76 billion more in 2026 — than if those same patients were enrolled in traditional fee-for-service Medicare. That higher cost comes despite a policy CMS redesigned in 2024 to limit MA plans’ ability to exaggerate patients’ health ...
California health care advocates, labor unions and progressive lawmakers are urging the governor and the Legislature to find new money to fund medical care and other social services for millions of low-income and disabled Californians. Their coalition, known as “Fight for Our Health,” demanded Wednesday on the Capitol steps that the Legislature and soon-to-be lame ...
The U.S. spent 7.2% more on healthcare in 2024 — not due to higher healthcare prices but instead greater use and more intensity of medical goods and services, especially in hospitals.
The Trump administration has released new estimates on improper payments in key government insurance programs. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said late Thursday that the estimated improper payment rate in traditional Medicare was 6.55%, or $28.83 billion, in 2025. That’s down from $31.7 billion, or a 7.66% rate, the year prior. The ...
Many low-income Californians prescribed wildly popular weight loss drugs lost their coverage for the medications at the start of the new year. Health officials are recommending diet and exercise as alternatives to heavily advertised weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound, advice experts say is unrealistic. “Of course he tried eating well and everything, but ...