Introduction This month, we are launching a new series of articles about alternative approaches to healthcare delivery—with a focus in this edition on approaches targeting social determinants of health, specifically nutrition, via health coverage. Stay tuned for an upcoming white ...
Introduction In this month’s edition of Health Policy News, we delve into two of last month’s breaking Federal litigation updates: the decisions issued in cases regarding the Association Health Plan Final Rule and the use and operationalization of Medicaid work ...
Introduction With the first quarter of the new year coming to a close, we are taking this opportunity to do a national review of major state health policy activity in 2019. Nineteen new governors were sworn into office in January, ...
Introduction While 2019 started slowly under the Federal shutdown, its pace of action has significantly quickened. We bring you a range of health policy updates in this edition of Health Policy News. With the comment period closed for the annual ...
How do we increase the promotion of produce prescriptions in the never-ending quest to implement and integrate social determinants of health? As of 2010, diet has surpassed smoking as the leading cause of death for Americans—which translates to hundreds of billions of dollars being spent to combat diseases stemming from poor health and diet. Data ...
This month, we’re sharing important developments in two state health policy efforts we covered previously: state efforts to advance a public option (with major developments coming out of the state of Washington) and Tennessee’s pursuit of a Medicaid Block Grant. Read on for more information about how recently-passed legislation in these states has advanced major ...
The standards for Association Health Plans (AHPs) continue to be in flux at the Federal level following the Federal District Court ruling at the end of March that invalidated major portions of last summer’s final Federal rule on AHPs. Since the final rule was already in effect for fully insured AHPs and existing self-insured AHPs, ...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released final annual Exchange guidance for 2020 on April 18, 2019, via the Final Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2020 (NBPP) and the 2020 Letter to Issuers in the Federally-facilitated Exchanges (Letter) as well as ancillary guidance. CMS’s stated goals for this year’s guidance are: ...
February 28-March 1, 2019, marked the 35th annual Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) Issues and Research Conference. The theme of this year’s event, “Breaking Down Barriers to Improve Injured Workers’ Outcomes,” signified two core ideas that were evident in each session. The first was that workers compensation can no longer operate in a silo. As ...
On March 27, 2019, Judge James Boasberg of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued rulings on back-to-back cases addressing work requirement eligibility criteria included in Section 1115 waiver applications submitted by the states of Arkansas and Kentucky. Judge Boasberg again ruled against the implementation of a Medicaid work requirement in Kentucky, while ...
On March 28, 2019, Judge John D. Bates of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling invalidating major provisions of last summer’s final rule on Association Health Plans (AHPs). The regulations—which were released by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on June 19, 2018—established additional and more flexible criteria under ...
The new year brought changes to state leadership across the nation, with 19 governors newly entering the corner office—seven of whom took over from an administration on the other end of the political spectrum. This refresh has brought a surge of new ideas and energy in the realm of state health policy. Below, we highlight …
Last week, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) held its annual health policy conference (#AHIPPOLICY) in Washington DC, with top industry leaders, regulators and policy makers convened to provide diverse voices and perspectives on today’s most urgent health care issues. The conference themes were familiar and front-of-mind topics: tackling the opioid epidemic, rising prescription drug costs, data ...
As states and the federal government grapple with how best to address the issue of rising prescription drug costs, various models have emerged at the federal level that are similar to efforts underway at the State level. The Administration has called upon states to create innovative approaches to state Medicaid programs, particularly by examining value-based ...
