Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

If you can only read three things about health policy this week, I suggest...

The Top Three...

NBC News: Judge Orders Trump Administration To Deliver Full SNAP Benefits To States By Friday A federal judge in Rhode Island has ordered the Trump administration to deliver SNAP payments in full to states by Friday. The order, which U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued Thursday afternoon, followed two weeks of chaos and confusion about the fate of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, during the government shutdown. (Bendix, 11/6)

The Hill: Mike Johnson Refuses To Promise House Vote On Extending ObamaCare Subsidies Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Thursday he would not offer Democrats a House vote on extending expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies as part of a deal to end the government shutdown. Asked at a press conference if he could assure Democrats in the House that they would get a vote on extending the subsidies, Johnson said, “No, because we did our job, and I’m not part of the negotiation.” “I’m not promising anybody anything. I’m going to let this process play out,” he continued. (Brooks, 11/6)

Modern Healthcare: Government Shutdown Disrupts Some Pay For Safety-Net Hospitals Five weeks into the lengthiest federal government shutdown in U.S. history, the healthcare system is mostly operating as usual but safety-net providers and others are feeling the squeeze. Medicare, Medicaid and the health insurance exchanges are not fully impacted by the shutdown that began Oct. 1 because the Health and Human Services Department has access to mandatory funding and other sources of money to keep them running. (Early, 11/5)

For a Deeper Dive...

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Physician Pay To Rise 2.5% In 2026 Under CMS Final Rule Doctors who treat Medicare beneficiaries are getting a 2.5% raise next year under a regulation the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued Friday. The 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule implements provisions from the tax law President Donald Trump enacted in July, which mandated a pay hike and reversed a multiyear trend of reimbursement cuts. CMS also spells out its plans for an “efficiency adjuster” that will reduce some payments, a lower back pain and heart failure payment model, and new flexibilities for telehealth coverage. (Early, 10/31)

Axios: Medicare Finalizes Policy To Cut Doctor Pay For Specialty Services The Trump administration on Friday finalized a controversial plan to reevaluate how Medicare calculates doctor payments that will result in lower rates for specialty services. Medicare will implement a 2.5% cut next year to payments for services like radiology and gastroenterology that are based on more than time spent delivering the service. (Goldman, 11/3)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Specialty Physician Pay Cut For 2026 Under Fire Nearly three dozen physician specialty groups have called on Congress to halt a new policy that will reduce Medicare payments for thousands of billing codes. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a final rule Friday setting Medicare reimbursements to physicians in 2026. Although the regulation grants a 2.5% overall rate increase, it also introduces a “efficiency adjustment” that will trim payments for some specialty services by 2.5%. One of the agency’s stated goals is to increase support for primary care. (Early, 11/3)

KFF Health News: Congressional Stalemate Creates Chaos For Obamacare Shoppers This year’s Obamacare open enrollment period, which started Nov. 1 in most states, is full of uncertainty and confusion for the more than 24 million people who buy health insurance through the federal and state Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Even with sign-up season underway, the fate of the enhanced premium tax credits that make coverage more affordable for 92% of enrollees remains up in the air, with the prospect of significantly higher premiums looming. But there are steps marketplace shoppers can take to ensure they make the right choices for the upcoming plan year. (Andrews, 11/4)

The Hill: All 50 States Apply For $50B Rural Health Transformation Fund All 50 states have submitted applications for their share of a $50 billion pot of money to transform rural health, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz said Thursday. Wednesday was the deadline for states to submit a detailed application for the first tranche of the five-year fund created to help rural providers offset the cuts to Medicaid and other health programs contained in the tax cut law. (Weixel, 11/6)

Roll Call: Obamacare Is Still On Trump’s Mind — But Outlook Appears Doubtful President Donald Trump still has Barack Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment on his mind, but the political calendar and environment are not on his side. Pushing a measure to revise — or even replace — the 2010 health care law known as the Affordable Care Act as the nation heads into what will likely be a contentious midterm election year would be among the biggest battles of his turbulent decade-old political career. (Bennett, 11/4)

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For the Visual Among Us...

A few years ago I started a weekly e-mail for friends and colleagues who want to keep up on major federal health policy developments but did not have time to plod through all the minutiae--they were busy doing important things like running organizations and taking care of patients! Much to my surprise, it became pretty popular. I have now converted to a weekly newsletter format so you can manage your own subscription preferences and forward to others that might be interested.

These summaries represent my judgement on health policy issues that may not on the front pages, but are relevant to clinicians, administrators, and educators. I monitor many news sources and clipping services to identify content for this newsletter and I try hard to be as factual, balanced, and non-partisan as possible. While the articles are written by others (with credit attributed), the choice of what to include is entirely mine. If you are interested in receiving a daily summary of health policy news, you might consider signing up for the KHN Morning Briefing. If you enjoy podcasts, I suggest What the Health? and Tradeoffs.

-Gregg S. Margolis, PhD