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.
The giant spending bill passed by Congress last month kept the government open. But it also quietly rewrote huge areas of health policy: Hundreds of pages of legislation were devoted to new health care programs.
Last year, President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), setting into motion a series of changes to the way that Medicare and its beneficiaries pay for prescription drugs. Much has been written about the act’s individual provisions, but little has been said about how they fit together as a whole. In fact, these seemingly standalone ...
Now, it’s been extended a second time, with the most recent government spending bill reinstating the provision through at least December 31, 2024, according to the Society of Human Resource Management.
While unemployment rates have declined since the early days of the pandemic, enrollment in employer-sponsored coverage has remained largely stagnant, a new study shows.
Providers will be forced to navigate a challenging year as they try to rein in expense growth fueled by pandemic-driven labor shortages. This year’s outlook for a large chunk of the healthcare sector remains negative as inflation and pricier labor create difficult operating conditions for nonprofit providers, Moody’s Investor Service said. As a result, health systems ...
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra renewed Wednesday the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) for another 90 days, extending with it key waivers and regulatory flexibilities. The PHE—which has been in place since Jan. 31, 2020—will now run for another 90 days. Becerra has agreed, though, to give stakeholders a 60-day ...
What kind of healthcare reforms can we expect from the 118th Congress? The outlook is a bit cloudy.
California has awarded managed care plan contracts to five insurers to serve Medicaid beneficiaries across 21 counties in the state in 2024.
Drugmakers need more guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on how to calculate the best price for drugs sold on Medicare Part B, a key federal watchdog said.
Just ahead of the year-end deadline, President Joe Biden signed into law a massive $1.7 trillion spending package that includes a slew of healthcare policy priorities. Biden signed the bill late on Dec. 29 after it was flown to him while vacationing during the holidays in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the White House said. In ...