Thurs, Feb 6, 2025:
DOGE gains access to health payment systems – WP
Community health centers caught up in funding freeze – Roll Call
White House preparing order to cut thousands of federal health workers; could come next week – WSJ
Wed, Feb 5, 2025:
DOGE targets Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) for what they consider “waste” – Bloomberg
Tues, Feb 4, 2025: RFK Jr. nomination to be HHS Secretary advances in committee vote – WP
Mon, Feb 3, 2025: Map illustrates how ACA premiums would rise by district if enhanced subsidies expire next year – KFF
Tues, Jan 28, 2025: Caroline Kennedy warns of “predator” RFK Jr – WashPost
Tues, Jan 28, 2025: Confusion reigns for states trying to secure Medicaid dollars – WashPost
“At least 20 states were unable to draw funds from an HHS payment system hours after the White House ordered a pause on the disbursement of grants and loans.”
Tues, Jan 28, 2025: Who funds the WHO – a list of its biggest donors – AP
Tues, Jan 21, 2025: Advocates move to protect Medicaid ahead of looming changes – WashPost
Tues, Jan 21, 2025: Trump officials pause health agencies’ communications – WashPost
Tues, Jan 21, 2025: US withdrawal from WHO will hurt Americans — and help China – WashPost
Tues, Jan 21, 2025: Trump again initiated the process to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization – WashPost
Wed, Jan 15, 2025: Affordable Care Act marketplace and Medicaid expansion enrollment reached a combined 44 million in 2024 – KFF
Tues, Jan 14, 2025: Top three insurers reaped $7.3 billion through drug middlemen markups – FTC
Thurs, Jan 9, 2025: Dems kick off fight to protect ACA subsidies in new Congress – The Hill
Wed, Jan 8, 2025: Record 24 million enroll in ACA; enrollment nearly doubled under Biden – ABC
Tues, Jan 7, 2025: Bipartisan Senate report highlights the harmful effects of private equity on the U.S. health care system – Senate Budget Committee (Whitehouse/Grassley)
“The results of this bipartisan investigation—including the documents released publicly today for the first time—highlight significant concerns regarding the impact of PE ownership on the quality of care, patient safety, and financial stability at hospitals across the United States. By focusing on two prominent private equity firms, LGP and Apollo, and their associated hospital operators, Prospect and Lifepoint Health, the Committee has uncovered troubling patterns of prioritizing profits over patients and of unfulfilled promises. While not every PE firm operates in an identical fashion, the evidence highlights systemic issues with PE investment in health care, including underinvestment in critical hospital infrastructure, understaffing, and the pursuit of financial gains through leveraged buyouts and dividend extractions—often to the detriment of patients and hospital operations.”
Tues, Jan 7, 2025: Biden Admin bars medical debt from credit scores – KFF
Thurs, Jan 2, 2025: Insurers racked up billions in extra payments from Medicare Advantage–WSJ
Fri, Dec 13, 2024: The twin problems of mental health care: access and affordability – KFF
Fri, Dec 6, 2024:
With or without ACA repeal, ACA and Medicaid cuts are looming – KFF
Dems propose deal to GOP extending ACA subsidies by a year – WashPost
“Without a permanent extension, CBO estimates, the number of uninsured people will rise by 2.2 million in 2026, by 3.7 million in 2027, and by 3.8 million, on average, in each year over the 2026-2034 period,” Phillip L. Swagel, the CBO’s director, wrote to lawmakers.
Thurs, Dec 5, 2024: The Effects of Not Extending the Expanded Premium Tax Credits for the Number of Uninsured People and the Growth of Premiums – CBO
Wed, Dec 4, 2024: 3.7 million adults in nine states (Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia) would be at immediate risk of losing their health coverage if Republicans cut the extra federal Medicaid funding that’s enabled those states to widen eligibility – KFF
Mon, Dec 2, 2024: Potential conflicts of interest may haunt Dr. Oz’s confirmation to run Medicare, Medicaid – WashPost
Fri, Nov 22, 2024: How much more would people pay in premiums if the ACA’s enhanced subsidies expired? – KFF
Thurs, Nov 21, 2024: Medicaid cuts in crosshairs as Trump, GOP take control – The Hill
Fri, Nov 15, 2024: What Trump’s victory means for Medicaid – KFF
Thurs, Nov 14, 2024: Trump chooses anti-vaccine activist RFK Jr. as health secretary – AP; With ACA subsidies set to expire in 2025, millions stand to lose health insurance – CBS
Fri, Nov 1, 2024: Drew Altman on the Future of Health Policy After the Election – KFF
Fri, Sept 20, 2024: “As Medicaid Unwinding Concludes, 25 Million Lost Medicaid Coverage But Enrollment is 10 Million Higher Than Pre-Pandemic Levels” –KFF
Mon, May 13, 2024: Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s claim that “Obamacare massively increased the cost of health care in Ameria” earns 3 pinnochios from Fact Checker.
Mon, May 6, 2024: 2024 Medicare Trustees Report projects:
- The Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund will be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits until 2036, 5 years later than reported last year. At that point, that fund’s reserves will become depleted and continuing program income will be sufficient to pay 89 percent of total scheduled benefits. Medicare Hospital Insurance is financed primarily by the HI payroll tax. The improvement relative to last year’s projection is due to several factors, including a policy change correcting for the way medical education expenses are accounted for in Medicare Advantage rates starting in 2024, higher payroll tax income resulting from the stronger-than-expected economy, and actual 2023 expenditures that were lower than projected last year.
- The Supplemental Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Fund, which finances Medicare Parts B, C, and D, is assessed as “adequately financed”; however, this is a misleading technicality because the SMI Fund is not actually a “trust fund,” being financed primarily by general revenue infusions from the Treasury. (Typically, a “trust fund” is designed to finance specific programs with dedicated tax revenues, which is not the case here.)
- For more background, see our primer, Trillions.
Wed, Apr. 24, 2024: KFF reports, “The FDA recently approved a new use for Wegovy (semaglutide), the blockbuster anti-obesity drug, to reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke in people with cardiovascular disease who are overweight or obese….An estimated 1 in 4 Medicare beneficiaries with obesity or overweight could be eligible for Medicare Part D coverage of Wegovy to reduce the risk of serious heart problems….It’s possible that Medicare could select semaglutide for drug price negotiation as early as 2025….As of 2022, gross Medicare spending on Ozempic alone placed it sixth among the 10 top-selling drugs in Medicare Part D, with annual gross spending of $4.6 billion, based on KFF analysis. This estimate does not include rebates….”
Tues, Apr. 16, 2024: CBO report: Medicare Accountable Care Organizations: Past Performance and Future Directions. NPR: Why Homeless People Are Losing Health Coverage in Medicaid Mix-Ups.
Fri, Apr. 12, 2024: KFF reports that “nearly a quarter of people who say they were disenrolled from Medicaid during the “unwinding” (post-Covid) are now uninsured.”
Wed, Mar. 13, 2024: The Hill reported Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell “threw cold water over the long-held Republican aim of repealing the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), saying this week that fight is ‘largely over.’” Former President Trump has repeatedly called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act without offering an alternative to enable Americans with preexisting conditions and without employer coverage to purchase health insurance.
Fri, Mar. 8, 2024: See this KFF review of five health policy topics touched on during the State of the Union Address: Abortion, Drug Prices, Affordable Care Act, Health Care Affordability, and Gun Violence.
Tues, Feb. 27, 2024: Roll Call reports that “health package talks (broke) down amid broader spending feud….(A) smaller bill will likely focus (on) extender policies as well as…funding for community health centers and partial offsets to scheduled Medicare cuts for physicians.”
Wed, Jan. 31, 2024: CBO Testimony on Federal Subsidies for Health Insurance and Policies to Reduce the Prices Paid by Commercial Insurers
Wed, Jan. 24, 2024: CNN reports that “a record 21.3 million Americans flocked to Affordable Care Act coverage for 2024, further cementing the law’s place in the nation’s health care landscape.”
Fri, May 26, 2023: NYTimes: Hundreds of Thousands Have Lost Medicaid Coverage Since Pandemic Protections Expired
Wed. May 24, 2023: CBO report: health insurance for people younger than 65 — Expiration of Temporary Policies Projected to Reshuffle Coverage
Tues. May 16, 2023: CBO Federal Health Spending Update