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1 month ago | 
medlearn.com | Matthew Albright |Medicaid Services
Last Friday night, at nearly the last moment, Congress was able to keep the federal government open by passing a continuing resolution (CR) – that’s government-speak for kicking the can down the road. The president signed the CR the next day. The CR keeps the government open until September. The CR included a number of healthcare extensions, including for Medicare’s telehealth waivers and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital at Home demo and Special Diabetes Program.
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2 months ago | 
medlearn.com | Matthew Albright |Medicaid Services
While political news is gushing from Washington on a daily basis, actual laws or regulations are not as forthcoming from DC as they are in the states. Because of the slim majority Republicans have in both houses, the new Congress will have what looks like only two opportunities to pass any actual laws this year. The first opportunity will be in late March when Congress hopes to pass either a budget resolution for 2025 or a continuing resolution to delay the deadline to pass it.
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Nov 13, 2024 | 
medlearn.com | Matthew Albright |Medicaid Services
If you are just crawling out from under a rock, note that last week, we had an election in this country. Republicans won the White House and the Senate, and as of this writing, the House is still a toss-up. They are saying that it could be days or weeks before we have an official call on the House.
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Oct 30, 2024 | 
medlearn.com | Matthew Albright |Medicaid Services
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reported that a total of 11 health data breaches have each affected over one million people this year, bringing the total number of people affected by data breaches in 2024 to about 140 million Americans. Those 11 health data breaches include one that occurred at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) itself, affecting over 3 million people.
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Sep 18, 2024 | 
medlearn.com | Matthew Albright |Medicaid Services
By now, most of you are surely familiar with the No Surprises Act (NSA), a federal law that protects patients from unexpected medical bills. The Act and its subsequent regulations protect insured patients from getting balance-billed in a number of circumstances, including emergencies. However, notably, the Act does not include protections for a very common – and expensive – emergency service: that is, when a patient needs a ground ambulance.
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Aug 21, 2024 | 
medlearn.com | Matthew Albright |Medicaid Services
As some of you may have noticed, we are neck-deep in presidential campaigns. The two presidential candidates appear starkly different at first glance. On many issues, each is proposing a significantly different direction for the country. Surprisingly, however, there is a policy area where both Republicans and Democrats are more-or-less aligned.
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Mar 20, 2024 | 
medlearn.com | Matthew Albright |Medicaid Services
It is Cherry Blossom Week in the nation’s capital. Unfortunately, we’re coming off warm days last week, and the weather is starting to chill a bit. The political forecast in D.C. this week looks similar. Although it seemed like the House of Representatives was going to decide on a final 2024 appropriations package this past Sunday, it didn’t happen. That’s right: it’s springtime in D.C., which means, once again, there is a government shutdown looming.
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Feb 14, 2024 | 
medlearn.com | Matthew Albright |Medicaid Services
It’s an election year, which means everything is going to move very slowly through Congress, if it moves at all. That includes, unfortunately, the 3.4-percent cut in physician reimbursement from Medicare. As many of you are aware, those cuts have been in effect since Jan. 1. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a tax bill with bipartisan support – which is just short of incredible – but the bill does not include any healthcare measures, meaning no fix on the 3.4-percent cut.
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Jan 10, 2024 | 
medlearn.com | Matthew Albright |Medicaid Services
Like most of the world, I procrastinate when paying my bills. I tend to put them off until the very last minute. And that pretty much explains Congress’s strategy last year – and they clearly plan on continuing this approach for 2024. The tough stuff, like funding a government, gets put off until it’s coming down to the wire – but then, Congress does something most people can’t: they move the deadlines and keep putting it off.
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Jan 1, 2024 | 
nysenate.gov | Medicaid Services
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