Introduction Health Policy News had planned content for the month of March, but given the unprecedented times we are all living through, we thought it best to dedicate this month’s entire edition to recent federal and state efforts to ...
Introduction On January 31, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP) and the draft Letter to Issuers in the Federally-facilitated Exchanges, as well as accompanying guidance and timelines. ...
Introduction Happy 2020 Health Policy News readers! We hope you all had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday season. As we continue to await the proposed Marketplace guidance for 2021, we wanted to take this opportunity to share recent health policy ...
Health Policy News is once again dedicating our December edition to reflecting on the past year’s high-profile healthcare topics—providing context, summarizing recent developments, and predicting what activity is in store for these issues in the coming year. HPN editors Lisa ...
In this unprecedented time, much attention has been paid to Congressional response to the clinical and economic needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, Congress, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other federal agencies have actively put forth legislation and guidance aimed at providing greater flexibility to states and ...
Health Policy News often features Medicaid-related policy topics; this month, we are featuring the first in a series of pieces that touch on Medicare policy—specifically, Emergency Medical Services (EMS). PCG is fortunate to have retired Las Vegas Deputy Fire Chief Ken Riddle leading our work in this area. We spent time with Ret. Deputy Chief ...
The last several weeks saw a number of Medicaid policy-related developments. In our round-up below, we share key takeaways from each. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Block Grant Guidance As we shared in our newsletter last month, CMS recently released a State Medicaid Director Letter with long-awaited guidance on Medicaid block grants. Earlier this ...
On January 31, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP) and the draft Letter to Issuers in the Federally-facilitated Exchanges (hereafter “the Letter”)[1] as well as accompanying guidance and timelines.[2] CMS is accepting comments on these items through 5pm on March 2, 2020. ...
2/7/2020 Update: Click here for a detailed analysis of the Healthy Adult Opportunity (HAO) guidance (SMDL 20-001) from PCG’s Health Policy News subject matter experts. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its long-awaited guidance promoting block grant waivers – being referred to as the Healthy Adult Opportunity (HAO) – yesterday. As expected, under guidance, in exchange for funding limited to an ...
Over the past four years, thirteen states have received approval to implement State Innovation Waivers (renamed “State Relief and Empowerment Waivers” by CMS in October 2018) under the authority of Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act. Twelve of those states (all except Hawaii) leveraged Section 1332 to implement reinsurance programs aimed at reducing premiums. ...
Addressing rising prescription drug costs has been a top priority for California Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration. Health Policy News reported early in his term about the Governor’s Executive Order that authorized the state’s Department of Health Care Services to negotiate prescription drug prices for the state’s Medicaid program. Governor Newsom’s efforts continued into 2020 with ...
The draft Transparency in Coverage rule was developed by the Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services (hereinafter “the Departments’) and published on November 27, 2019. This rule was developed in response to the President’s Executive Order on Improving Price and Quality Transparency. The proposed rule applies to group plans and health insurance ...
Over the past year, Health Policy News readers were drawn to topics that were top of mind for many policymakers, as well as articles that detailed innovative solutions to complex problems like controlling health costs and expanding access to healthcare. As 2019 comes to a close, this piece revisits these popular topics, providing updates on ...
Many major health policy developments in 2019 were related to state waivers, major health policy litigation, and federal health insurance regulations, with activity on these issues expected to continue into 2020. One of these developments—this week’s new ruling in the Texas vs United States case challenging the validity of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—is certain ...
