Medicare Medicaid Category

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.

Hospital Prices Must Now Be Transparent. For Many Consumers, They’re Still Anyone’s Guess.

A colonoscopy might cost you or your insurer a few hundred dollars — or several thousand, depending on which hospital or insurer you use. Long hidden, such price variations are supposed to be available in stark black and white under a Trump administration price transparency rule that took effect at the start of this year. It requires ...

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Trump-Era Law On Surprise Medical Bills Advances Under Biden

The Biden administration on Thursday began putting in place consumer protections against “surprise” medical bills enacted in bipartisan legislation signed last year by former President Donald Trump. Regulations jointly issued by four federal agencies spell out protections for insured patients against surprise billing in medical emergencies, and unexpected charges from out-of-network doctors at an in-network ...

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Biden Administration Aims To Further Rebuild ACA With Proposed Rule

It would lengthen the annual open enrollment period, expand the role of navigators and nix Trump-era guidelines for waivers that were criticized for allowing states to skirt coverage requirements.

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ARPA & COBRA Obligations: We Have Only Just Begun

Benefits brokers who consult with plan administrators of employer-sponsored group health plans, will need to ready clients for the multiple phases that will follow receipt of qualified beneficiaries’ American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) subsidy elections, which will start rolling in during the next month.

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More Nevadans Qualify For Health Insurance Subsidies Through American Rescue Plan

The American Rescue Plan could have big impacts for people who have a health insurance plan through Nevada Health Link. President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion stimulus package into law in March. Part of the money will offer financial assistance for health insurance on the exchange.

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Schumer Backing Plan To Add Dental, Vision And Hearing Coverage To Medicare

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday threw his support behind a push, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), to add dental, vision and hearing coverage to Medicare. “There is a gaping hole in Medicare that leaves out dental, vision, and hearing coverage. This is a serious problem,” Schumer wrote on Twitter.

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U.S. Drug Spending Projected To Spike With New Alzheimer’s Drug

U.S. prescription drug spending will jump at least 8% by the mid-2020s as a controversial new Alzheimer’s disease drug hits the market, a new analysis finds.

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Supreme Court Ruling Should Help ACA Stick: Health Care Lawyer

A health care lawyer says the new U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act is about more than procedural rules. Stephen Lucke, a partner at law firm of Dorsey & Whitney and the co-chair of the firm’s health litigation group, contends in a commentary on the ruling that the court majority clearly ...

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Medicaid Enrollment Hits Record 80 Million

The pandemic-caused recession and a federal requirement that states keep Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled until the national emergency ends swelled the pool of people in the program by more than 9 million over the past year, according to a report released Thursday. The latest figures show Medicaid enrollment grew from 71.3 million in February 2020, when ...

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Pricey Drugs Paid By Medicare Lack Cost-Effectiveness Data

Nearly $50 billion or a third of Medicare Part D costs in 2016 were for drugs with absent cost-effectiveness analyses, according to a report from JAMA Network Open. Why it matters: The lack of a quality analysis that weighs the relative cost with outcomes of these drugs may create hurdles toward efforts aimed at addressing drug spending ...

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