Billy Wynne

Draft Medicare Payment Adequacy and Update Recommendations for 2025 On December 7-8, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) held a public meeting at which it considered a series of draft payment update recommendations to Medicare payment systems in 2025 for inclusion in its March 2024 Report to Congress.   The Commission expressed support for 2025…

More Than 7 Million Individuals Have Enrolled in Health Insurance Through ACA Marketplaces Since Open Enrollment Began The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that as of earlier this week, nearly 7.3 million individuals have enrolled in health insurance through the Marketplaces since open enrollment began on November 1, 2023. Highlights are as follows: 5…

Department Unveils Comprehensive Cybersecurity Strategy for Health Care and Public Health Sectors; Proposals Include New Cybersecurity Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Hospitals and Updating the HIPAA Security Rule Next Year The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a comprehensive strategy aimed at fortifying cybersecurity measures within the health care sector. This initiative is…

Committee Advances Legislation Aimed at PBMs, Prescription Drugs, NCD Processes, Parkinson’s and Medicare Physician Fee Schedule; PBM Reforms Likely to Be Reconciled Before House Vote The House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee convened a Full Committee markup to consider 44 pieces of legislation, including 21 health-related bills on Medicare Part D and pharmacy benefit managers,…

USDA and FRAC Announce $1.1 Million to Increase Equitable Access to Child Nutrition Programs The Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced that it has teamed up with the Food Research & Action Coalition (FRAC) to award five competitive grants for a total of $1.1 million to research and barriers to equitable…

Mental Health Legislative Update In recent years, key mental health indicators across the country have been declining, particularly among youth. Policymakers continue to be concerned with the ability of the healthcare system to meet the demand of increasing substance use and mental health challenges. In August, Impact Health shared a policy update to provide an overview of…

Agency Issues Interim Final Rule Outlining Enforcement of State Compliance with Reporting and Federal Medicaid Renewal Requirements; Comments Due February 2nd Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an interim final rule with a comment period regarding the unwinding of continuous coverage requirements. The interim final rule outlines CMS’ enforcement of states’…

Subcommittee Hearing Reveals Partisan Divides on Pandemic Oversight and CDC Priorities The House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee convened a hearing to examine the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) preparedness for the upcoming respiratory disease season, and the agency’s recent restructuring efforts, designed to bolster operational, communication, workforce, and response…

Report Shows That States Have Not Collected All Capitation Payments On Behalf of Deceased Enrollees  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report showing that some states made Medicaid capitation payments to managed care organizations (MCOs) on behalf of deceased enrollees. OIG says that 14 previous audits…

Research Grant Opportunities Related to Nutrition and Maternal Health The Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced two research-based funding opportunities to develop a subgrant program related to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and maternal health. The two opportunities are described below: Funding Opportunity: FY24 Participation…