House Dems Step Up Pressure To Extend ARP Credits

A group of moderate, swing state Democrats are the latest to sound the alarm over the impending expiration in December of the more generous ACA tax credits that were part of the American Rescue Plan, urging House and Senate leadership in a letter Monday (May 23) to quickly craft a reconciliation bill that extends the credits and avoids large rate increases and enrollment losses. On Tuesday, Illinois Rep. Lauren Underwood (D) who spearheaded the letter, joined pro-Affordable Care Act advocates...
Article Type: 
Daily News
Tags: 
ACA
reinsurance
Site Name: 
InsideHealthPolicy.com
CMS Issue: 
Inside CMS - 05/26/2022
CMS Volume: 
Vol. 25, No. 21
HEA Issue: 
Health Exchange Alert Weekly Report - 05/25/2022
HEA Volume: 
Vol. 10, No. 21
Author: 
Amy Lotven
Topics: 
ISSUE: INSIDE CMS
Health-Exchange-Alert
Mid Day E-mail
Congress
Health Reform Debate

FDA Denies Petition To Ban Phthalates In Food Packaging

FDA recently declined to ban certain phthalates -- chemicals that are used to make plastics flexible -- from being used in food packaging and food production equipment, a move that health advocacy and environmental groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund, Center for Food Safety and Center for Science in the Public Interest, say will have detrimental health effects on women, children and other vulnerable populations for years to come. House lawmakers have previously called on FDA to set strict limits...
Article Type: 
Daily News
Tags: 
food-safety
Site Name: 
InsideHealthPolicy.com
FDA Issue: 
FDA Week - 05/27/2022
FDA Volume: 
Vol. 28, No. 21
Author: 
Jessica Karins
Topics: 
ISSUE: FDA WEEK
Mid Day E-mail
Food Safety

AHA Blasts Rand Pricing Report As Inaccurate

A RAND Corporation report out last week found employer health plans pay an average 224% more than Medicare prices and suggest the information could help both employers and federal and state policymakers take steps to reduce spending. But the American Hospital Association says the study relies on incomplete data and ignores geographic variations. AHA also says the results prove that Medicare underpays for services and linking commercial costs to the federal rates would exacerbate hospitals’ financial challenges. The RAND report...
Article Type: 
Daily News
Tags: 
hospital
Site Name: 
InsideHealthPolicy.com
CMS Issue: 
Inside CMS - 05/26/2022
CMS Volume: 
Vol. 25, No. 21
HEA Issue: 
Health Exchange Alert Weekly Report - 05/25/2022
HEA Volume: 
Vol. 10, No. 21
Author: 
Amy Lotven
Topics: 
ISSUE: INSIDE CMS
Health-Exchange-Alert
Mid Day E-mail
Health Reform Debate
Medicare

OIG Declines To Generalize Anti-Kickback Decision On Smartphones

The HHS Office of the Inspector General ruled that a health care provider could give smartphones to some patients to allow them to access telehealth services without violating anti-kickback laws because the devices were being given out to promote access to care. However, the OIG made it clear that the ruling is not generalizable to other cases in which health care providers might offer patients access to technology. In the case in question, a health care provider requested guidance from...
Article Type: 
Inside Telehealth Daily News
Site Name: 
InsideHealthPolicy.com
Author: 
Jessica Karins
Topics: 
Not Top Story

Researchers: Home-Based Care For Aging Patients Would Fill Telehealth Gaps

Care for elderly patients could best be served by shifting to a home-based primary care model, two physicians and geriatric care researchers argue. They say this model would fill some health care access gaps posed by telehealth. Christine Ritchie of Harvard University and Bruce Leff of Johns Hopkins University wrote in an article titled “Home-Based Care Reimagined: A Full-Fledged Health Care Delivery Ecosystem Without Walls,” published in Health Affairs , that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown health care cannot be...
Article Type: 
Inside Telehealth Daily News
Site Name: 
InsideHealthPolicy.com
Author: 
Jessica Karins
Topics: 
Not Top Story

Press Release

Letter


FDA Will Assess Data On T-Cell Levels Produced By COVID-19 Vaccines

FDA has started gathering more data on T-cell levels in people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, which FDA biologics center Director Peter Marks says will help the agency better assess the efficacy of current and future coronavirus shots. Scientists and public health experts have urged FDA to look at the number of T cells, rather than just antibodies, produced by COVID-19 vaccines, saying it will help strengthen the United States’ coronavirus response and ensure companies produce better vaccines. Some...
Article Type: 
Daily News
Tags: 
corona
emergency-response
vaccine
pediatrics
drug-trial
Site Name: 
InsideHealthPolicy.com
FDA Issue: 
FDA Week - 05/27/2022
FDA Volume: 
Vol. 28, No. 21
Author: 
Kelly Lienhard
Topics: 
ISSUE: FDA WEEK
Coronavirus
Emergency Response
Rx Drugs

CMS Launches Medicaid, CHIP Renewal Webpage For Beneficiaries

Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program beneficiaries now have a central webpage that explains how they can get ready to renew their coverage, the Biden administration announced Monday (May 23) as beneficiary advocates and HHS urge states to step-up their post-public health emergency plans . “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to helping states keep consumers connected to coverage by either renewing their Medicaid/CHIP eligibility or helping them look at other affordable health insurance options,” a CMS spokesperson said in an...
Article Type: 
Daily News
Tags: 
medicaid
CHIP
corona
Site Name: 
InsideHealthPolicy.com
CMS Issue: 
Inside CMS - 05/26/2022
CMS Volume: 
Vol. 25, No. 21
HEA Issue: 
Health Exchange Alert Weekly Report - 05/25/2022
HEA Volume: 
Vol. 10, No. 21
Author: 
Dorothy Mills-Gregg
Topics: 
ISSUE: INSIDE CMS
Health-Exchange-Alert
Biden Health Agenda
Coronavirus
Medicaid

Surgeon General Issues Holistic Advisory On Workforce Burnout

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s new advisory on burnout in the health care workforce calls for an all-hands effort to protect and support health care workers as the sector scrambles to reduce providers’ retirements and resignations in the face of a looming vacancy crisis. Murthy’s advisory says over half a million nurses are on track to retire by the end of the year, bringing the current shortage of 150,000 nurses up to 1.1 million in the next five years. A shortage...
Article Type: 
Daily News
Tags: 
workforce
corona
mental-health
Site Name: 
InsideHealthPolicy.com
CMS Issue: 
Inside CMS - 05/26/2022
CMS Volume: 
Vol. 25, No. 21
Author: 
Bridget Early
Topics: 
ISSUE: INSIDE CMS
Emergency Response

CMS To Hold First Meeting On Unwinding The COVID-19 PHE As FDA, Congress Discuss Baby Formula Shortage

CMS will hold the first of its monthly meetings on the unwinding of the COVID-19 public health emergency on Wednesday as an FDA panel on Monday laid out plans to discuss COVID-19 shots for those under the age of 5. Also on Wednesday FDA officials and baby formula manufacturers will go before the House Energy & Commerce oversight subcommittee following the White House’s announcement of two infant formula Defense Production Act authorizations. The current PHE is slated to last through...
Overline: 
Health Insider
Article Type: 
Health Insider
Site Name: 
InsideHealthPolicy.com
Author: 
Michelle M. Stein
Secondary Author(s): 
Bridget Early
Dorothy Mills-Gregg

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