The Trump administration's spring 2018 unified agenda, released on Wednesday, offered a preview into various agencies' regulatory and deregulatory plans for the near future. Policy changes outlined by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) include reduced paperwork burdens for hospitals, greater flexibility for non-ACA-compliant plans, and additional tactics to fight the opioid epidemic, all of which have been previously addressed by the Trump administration. 

The California Rx Card and Nevada Drug Card prescription drug assistance programs have saved residents of the two states more than $635 million since the discount cards were launched in 2007 and 2008, through December 31, 2017.

Gov. Jerry Brown opted not to include major long-term investments in public health insurance programs in his budget revision on Friday, citing a preference for one-time spending measures.

President Trump’s goal of expanding short-term health plans will not harm the insurance marketplace, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said Thursday.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, has said he’s abandoning efforts to push a bipartisan bill meant to stabilize the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges, putting the blame on Democrats’ resistance to making changes to the law. With no congressional action likely this far into an election year, exchange insurers are requesting some eye-popping hikes for 2019 premiums.

As some insurers angle for hefty premium hikes and concerns grow that more Americans will wind up uninsured, the federal health law is likely — once again — to play big in both parties’ strategies for the contentious 2018 election.