A ballot initiative that could legalize abortion in Arizona is gaining support from the medical community, but is publicly polling evenly. Nationally, Republicans appear to be pivoting to curbing access to contraceptives.
Over 550 Arizona doctors signed a letter to state residents asking them to support the Arizona Abortion Access Act...Government
Congress narrowly avoided shutting down the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other government programs by passing a $1.2 trillion bill at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, including $117 billion for HHS.
Modern Healthcare explains that Congress struggled to pass the annual appropriations bills necessary to keep the...
Congress has once again narrowly avoided a government shutdown after weeks-long negotiations with House Republicans.
On Wednesday evening, NPR reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson released a statement that they had reached an agreement on six of the...
Although UnitedHealthcare's national footprint is expanding in 2024, the nation's and Arizona's largest MA insurer said last week it was reducing some MA service areas and discontinuing certain plans including AARP Medicare Advantage, UnitedHealthcare MedicareDirect, UnitedHealthcare Dual Complete or other UnitedHealthcare Medicare...National News
Last Friday, the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPAC) held a public virtual meeting to assess payments for hospice services and make recommendations for updating payments. It determined that it would recommend a 3% cut to Medicare base payments made to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in 2024.
The meeting presages the...National News
Last week President Joe Biden called on U.S. lawmakers to enact legislation aimed at lowering drug prices, including allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and imposing penalties on drugmakers that hike prices faster than inflation.
Biden said that U.S. prescription drug costs were higher than any other nation in the world by two to...Reports & Surveys
When Americans become eligible for Medicare coverage at age 65, there are substantial reductions in racial and ethnic disparities including access to care and self-reported health.
Lowering the Medicare eligibility age to age 60 would further reduce health disparities, new research led by the Yale School of Public Health finds. The...National News
Last Friday, President Joe Biden revealed his $6 trillion budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2022. As anticipated, the president focuses on infrastructure, but unlike his predecessors includes big increases in health care spending as part of that infrastructure.
Most notably, the proposal includes a 23% increase for the U.S. Department...Arizona News
This week Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill that would have allowed the board that regulates leadership at long-term care facilities to continue. Ducey wants to transfer those responsibilities to the Arizona Department of Health Services instead.
Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, said,
For...National News
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission voted to recommend Congress create a new value incentive program to reward skilled nursing facilities for good performance. MedPAC also approved a recommendation for Congress to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to develop and begin to report patient experience measures for...National News
The Bipartisan Policy Center released a report this week which strongly suggested that the Medicaid program should make primary care an immediate priority for patients. The think tank directed the release at Congress, calling on them to support a comprehensive infrastructure to improve primary care and fully fund the Primary Care...Arizona News
On Monday, an HHS spokesman confirmed that the department will extend the national public health emergency for COVID-19 that would otherwise expire on July 25th. The announcement comes as Arizona activates surge plans but resists enacting a full second shutdown of businesses in the state.
Health and Human Services spokesman...National News
Despite 2020 presidential candidate debates and lawmakers' crusade on the healthcare industry's business model, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and insurance companies fared quite favorably as billions in tax breaks line their pockets ahead of the holidays.
Former CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt told the Washington Post,...National News
A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that discharges from hospice care prior to the death of a patient is much higher among for-profit hospices than similar nonprofit institutions.
The report also found that for-profit hospice care providers were less likely to visit dying patients within three days of...National News
HHS released proposed rules for Medicare Advantage and Part D plans in November. On Tuesday February 26th, the Senate took testimony from seven drug company executives.
The pharmaceutical companies placed blame on the Pharmacy Benefit Management companies (PBMs) and warned that if they were to face outrageous solutions to lower...National News
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has granted the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives' petition to intervene in Texas v. Azar, the lawsuit calling into question the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But the Lousiana-based federal court of appeals denied a request filed by blue states to expedite...
Sen. Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All (M4A) universal health care plan, which proposes all U.S. residents be covered by insurance without copays and deductibles for medical services, has raised various questions surrounding government expenditures and doctor pay.
According to a report by Dr. Charles Blahous at the Mercatus...
