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CMS’s post-PHE plan for Medicaid and CHIP

| Sep 27, 2022 | Federal

The Biden administration wants to minimize the fallout from the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), whenever it occurs. At the top of the list of concerns is the insurance status of people who have been able to stay on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)...[ Read More ]

An update on the disputes leading CMS and Georgia to court

| Aug 26, 2022 | Federal

Two disputes between Georgia and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) over the state’s Trump-era waiver plans remain unsettled after eighteen months of legal and political wrangling. Given the wide gaps separating the two sides’ positions, as reflected in a recent exchange of letters, it seems likely that...[ Read More ]

Updating Medicare’s physician fees is a challenge again

| Jul 27, 2022 | Federal

Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have struggled for three decades to establish a stable, and affordable, system of determining annual updates for physician fees. While it was hoped that a law passed in the middle of the last decade would permanently end the volatility, it...[ Read More ]

Medicare projections from CBO and the program’s trustees

| Jun 14, 2022 | Federal

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the board of trustees charged with overseeing Medicare’s financial health recently released updated forecasts of the program within days of each other. These latest reports are valuable starting points for examining Medicare’s current status and likely future course.     CBO’s Medicare estimates, released...[ Read More ]

Standardized plan requirements for ACA coverage in 2023

| May 17, 2022 | Federal

On April 28th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its final Affordable Care Act (ACA) rule adjustments for calendar year 2023. Among the changes is a requirement that plan sponsors participating in the federally run exchange--healthcare.gov--offer standardized plans in addition to their other products. An important aim...[ Read More ]

Medicare and inflation

| Apr 18, 2022 | Federal

The most recent consumer price index (CPI) release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed that the rate of annual inflation from March 2021 to March 2022 was 8.5 percent -- the highest in four decades. If such rapid price escalation persists for an extended period, it will have...[ Read More ]