On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule that would outright ban discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation for any HHS program, service or funded program. It would also offer protections against discrimination based on age, disability, sex, race, color, national origin and...
President Joe Biden has issued a proposal to restrict the sale of short-term health plans that don't meet requirements stipulated by the Affordable Care Act. The proposal would reverse a Trump-era rule that expanded the sale of short-term, limited duration health insurance (STLDI) plans and critics of the president are accusing the...
Roughly 80% of rural America is considered "medically underserved" by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Arizona is uniquely affected by these localized shortages.
HHS data suggests that Arizona is short more than 650 primary care physicians, which interferes with Arizonan's ability to access care. According...
As the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization Supreme Court decision nears, researchers are taking the time to reflect on how the ruling impacted obstetric care, maternal healthcare and the medical industry more broadly.
At least 15 states now ban abortion either completely or within a few weeks of...
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck has filed a lawsuit against the federal government in an effort to stop Medicare drug price negotiations before they even begin.
The company filed its lawsuit on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., and said that the drug price negotiation program would necessarily violate the company's...News
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told the Arizona Supreme Court that her office's decision to not enforce a Territorial era abortion ban means that no one can enforce the ban. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched an investigation that could lead to enforcement of the Emergency Labor and Transport Act...National News
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) proposal to raise the national debt ceiling. The deal includes a requirement that certain Medicaid beneficiaries work or volunteer at least 80 hours per month to continue receiving health insurance.
Roughly 21 million Medicaid...
The first Medicaid redeterminations since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic have been underway in at least five states since the beginning of the month. Health advocacy groups are pressuring U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to ensure that a "health equity and civil rights disaster" does not...
Providers who use telehealth platforms are already concerned about the restrictions they will face if the public health emergency (PHE) ends and COVID-19-related waivers for telemedicine expire. But new rules from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will further complicate their practices.
Under the DEA's new rule, patients will...
This week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) published two reports for Congress that summarized health information and data breaches and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance efforts that took place in 2021.
According to the HHS press release, the annual...
Nursing homes will be required to disclose outside investors in their ownership or operations management if a new proposed rule issued on Monday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is finalized.
Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report calling for increased transparency on nursing home...
On Monday, Judge Jeremy Kernodle of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas handed down a decision that would remove major portions of the final rule for the No Surprises Act.
In 2021, the Texas Medical Association (TMA) filed suit against an interim final rule that would instruct independent arbiters to rely on the...
As cyberattacks on healthcare providers and industry services continue into 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it reached a $1.25 million settlement with Banner Health following a federal probe into a 2016 data breach that disclosed the protected health information of 2.81 million...
The federal government is taking action to challenge restrictions on birth control and abortion this week with a new rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Also, the Biden administration is reportedly weighing a declaration of a public health emergency...
Nursing homes continue to experience the worst job loss of any other healthcare sector according to new analysis from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), but Congress is cautioning against the use of skilled nursing facility (SNF) staffing minimums planned by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Also, CMS is working to...
The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Arizona's Medicaid program, announced last week that it would initiate member eligibility reviews and renewals in accordance with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, beginning April 1.
AHCCCS plans to complete the renewal process for all 2.4 million enrolled members...
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced its timeline for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, a key point of legislation in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
In a press call, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said that the department will...
New information on Long COVID is emerging as researchers investigate the causes and symptoms of the elusive condition. Meanwhile, stakeholder groups and providers are appealing to the federal government for guidance on returning to normal operating procedures as perception of the pandemic subsides.
The U.S. Department of Health and...
Nearly 3.4 million Americans have enrolled in 2023 individual market health insurance coverage through state and federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces since the beginning of the enrollment period. This is a substantial increase that President Joe Biden attributes to the offering of low-cost plans through federal subsidies from...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has signaled that it will delay the end of the public health emergency (PHE) related to the COVID-19 pandemic until April, quelling fears from stakeholders that not enough time was given to review Medicaid eligibility for everyone enrolled since the pandemic began.
In Arizona,...
