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Jan 16, 2025 | 
statnews.com | Carmel Shachar |MaryBeth Musumeci
Adobe There is every indication that incoming President Trump and congressional leadership will look to slash federal health care spending — primarily Medicaid — to pay for tax cuts for wealthy Americans. House Republicans recently released a list that proposes $2.3 trillion in Medicaid spending cuts. Many of these proposals aim at changing Medicaid’s fundamental financing structure from an entitlement to a welfare program.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
everand.com | Carmel Shachar |MaryBeth Musumeci
There is every that incoming President Trump and congressional leadership will look to slash federal health care spending — — to pay for tax cuts for wealthy Americans. House Republicans that proposes $2.3 trillion in Medicaid spending cuts. Many of these proposals aim at changing Medicaid’s fundamental financing structure from an entitlement to a welfare program. This change would be almost impossible to undo and comes without any viable replacement.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
commonwealthfund.org | MaryBeth Musumeci |Elizabeth Leiser |Sara Rosenbaum |Huba Zaman
Regulations are a fundamental part of health policy. Congress legislates in broad terms and agencies fill in technical details on myriad issues, from how Medicaid eligibility is determined to how Medicare providers are paid to how new drugs are approved for market. A recent Supreme Court decision, Loper Bright v. Raimondo, changes the balance of power between courts and federal agencies when interpreting laws and reviewing regulations and also impacts “friend of the court” (or amicus) briefs.
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Sep 25, 2024 | 
commonwealthfund.org | MaryBeth Musumeci |Elizabeth Leiser
In May 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized regulations intended to ensure access to Medicaid services. One provision has remained under the radar: requiring states every year to publicly report the number of people on waiting lists for home and community-based services (HCBS), along with average wait times, beginning in July 2027. States also must describe how they maintain their waiting lists, including whether and when people are screened for eligibility.
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Jul 19, 2024 | 
commonwealthfund.org | Sara Rosenbaum |MaryBeth Musumeci
On June 21, a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its long-awaited decision in Braidwood Management v. Becerra. The case has consequences for the Affordable Care Act’s guarantee of coverage for a wide range of free preventive care. In the near term, that guarantee remains undisturbed, but there may be years of litigation ahead. The case.
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Jul 10, 2024 | 
commonwealthfund.org | MaryBeth Musumeci
The Biden administration recently finalized its long-awaited revision to the regulations governing section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These regulations represent a major advance toward the ACA’s goal of nondiscrimination in health coverage and care, but progress is delayed by federal courts. Just before the new regulations’ effective date, three federal courts put various provisions on hold, with one order applying nationwide.
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Jul 3, 2024 | 
commonwealthfund.org | MaryBeth Musumeci
Medicaid enrollment churn — which occurs when people lose coverage and later reenroll — can result in people forgoing necessary medications or recommended preventive care and in interrupted continuity of care for chronic illnesses. Enrollees are at risk of churn during regular coverage renewals, when states review eligibility, and during redeterminations, when states review changes in circumstances that may affect eligibility between renewals.
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Jun 12, 2024 | 
healthaffairs.org | Sara Rosenbaum |MaryBeth Musumeci |Kian Azimpoor |Josemiguel Rodriguez
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (codified as 42 U.S.C. §18116) is a civil rights landmark. At fewer than 300 words, Section 1557 (“1557”) is short in text. In this respect, it is similar to other health care civil rights laws on which it builds, such as Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination by federally assisted entities based on race, national origin, sex, religion, or color.
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Dec 1, 2023 | 
healthaffairs.org | Leighton Ku |MaryBeth Musumeci |Sara Rosenbaum
The process of unwinding Medicaid’s continuous enrollment guarantee, a special emergency public health protection for vulnerable Americans enacted early in the COVID-19 pandemic, is now in its eighth month. Between April and November 2023, more than 11 million Medicaid beneficiaries have been disenrolled; millions more will lose coverage in the coming months.
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Jun 15, 2023 | 
healthaffairs.org | Sara Rosenbaum |Alexander Somodevilla |Maria Casoni |MaryBeth Musumeci
On May 3, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule (88 Fed. Reg. 28092) governing Medicaid managed care. On the same day, the administration also published a separate access rule addressing fee-for-service (FFS) rate transparency and other policies relating to home and community based services. Comments on both rules are due July 3. This analysis addresses the managed care rule, which also references the FFS changes.
