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.
A number of Republicans criticized Medicare Advantage during a congressional hearing on Tuesday, suggesting that the privatized Medicare program could be due for an overhaul from Washington. Calls to reform MA from Democrats are nothing new. But members of the GOP condemning MA is notable given the party’s traditional support for the program, in which ...
A new bipartisan bill would mandate that Medicare Advantage (MA) insurers “adequately reimburse” providers for services, citing a trend of health systems pulling out of MA contracts. The Prompt and Fair Pay Act was introduced by Reps. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, and Greg Murphy, R-N.C. The legislation would require that insurers pay providers at least what ...
Medicare Advantage (MA) markets are highly concentrated across the country, according to a new study from KFF. As of 2024, 90% of Medicare beneficiaries live in a county where those enrolled in MA had plans sponsored by just one or two insurers, according to the report. The researchers found that 79% of counties were highly ...
More than half of Americans — 57 percent — said in a new survey that they think the GOP’s sweeping package extending tax cuts and slashing welfare services will increase their health-care costs. Thirteen percent in the CBS/YouGov poll released Sunday said that the “big, beautiful bill” will lower their health-care costs and 33 percent said there will be ...
CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, is charting an ambitious path to reshape federal healthcare policy in line with President Donald Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. His vision comes as President Trump on July 4 signed The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping package of reforms targeting Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA marketplace. From plans to ...
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Trump signed on the 4th of July will take a $340 billion bite out of hospital budgets over a decade to pay for tax cuts and other Trump priorities. Then again, maybe it won’t.
The Trump administration is proposing a pay bump for physicians in 2026, alongside new reforms that align with the agency’s Make America Healthy Again positioning. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the proposed physician fee schedule on Monday evening, which would set the conversion factor, or the amount that Medicare pays per work ...
Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is warning Nevadans that President Donald Trump’s spending and tax cut bill will ripple through every aspect of the state’s health care system, going far beyond those who directly rely on Medicaid. Hospitals are already assessing whether they may need to cut staff or reduce services, said Cortez Masto during ...
Members of the House have brought back efforts to pass the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act bill. The bill would have a direct effect only on Medicare Part D prescription drug plans: It would let the plans cover weight-loss drugs for obese people and for overweight people with weight-related health problems. The drug coverage provision does ...
Blue Shield of California is cutting broker commissions for new enrollments into Medicare Advantage PPO plans in Alameda, Orange and San Diego counties, effective July 1. The new policy does not affect commission payments of existing membership, according to a June memo sent to brokers. Several large insurers have cut MA commissions recently, including UnitedHealthcare, Elevance Health ...