Health policy impacts everyone, but it can be hard to know what is important. If you can only read three things about health policy this week, I suggest...

The Top Three...

Politico: Biden Administration Warns States As Millions Lose Medicaid
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is ramping up pressure on states that may be failing to meet federal requirements as they renew Medicaid coverage for millions of people for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The agency has for months been mum about its behind-the-scenes communications with states, but on Wednesday made public letters it sent to state Medicaid officials warning that they may be running afoul of federal law and regulations. The letters, which were sent to all 50 states and Washington, D.C., identified three key areas of concern: high rates of people losing Medicaid because of paperwork problems, long call center wait times and slow application processing. (Messerly, 8/10)

AP: US Suicides Hit An All-Time High Last Year About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever, according to new government data posted Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posted the numbers, has not yet calculated a suicide rate for the year, but available data suggests suicides are more common in the U.S. than at any time since the dawn of World War II. (Stobbe, 8/11)

Stat: Supreme Court Blocks Purdue Bankruptcy Plan That Shields Sacklers The U.S. Supreme Court blocked a nationwide settlement with Purdue Pharma that was designed to shield members of the Sackler family — who own the company that makes OxyContin — from civil lawsuits over the fallout of the long-running opioid crisis. The move came in response to a request from the Biden administration to halt a bankruptcy plan that had been reached with numerous state and local governments around the country. (Silverman, 8/10)

Modern Healthcare: HHS To Boost Nursing Workforce, Training With $100M Investment The funds will be split among dozens of recipients nationwide across five different program areas. “We're doing this because we got marching orders directly from President Biden who said, ‘This is unacceptable,’” HHS secretary Xavier Becerra said at a media briefing Thursday. The agency is especially focused on addressing burnout, bottlenecks in nursing education and the lack of mental health providers, Becerra said. More than $34 million will go to 56 universities and health systems that will participate in a recently announced advanced nursing education workforce program. (Devereaux, 8/10)

For a Deeper Dive...

AP: Attacks At US Hospitals Show Why Health Care Is One Of The Nation’s Most Violent Fields The shooting at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Portland was part of a wave of gun violence sweeping through U.S. hospitals and medical centers, which have struggled to adapt to the growing threats. Such attacks have helped make health care one of the nation’s most violent fields. Data shows American health care workers now suffer more nonfatal injuries from workplace violence than workers in any other profession, including law enforcement. (Boone, 8/7)

Stat: Senators Push IRS To Launch Nonprofit Hospital Probe A bipartisan group of senators wants federal tax regulators to probe nonprofit hospitals’ compliance with community benefit requirements, ratcheting up a longtime campaign to hold the tax-exempt providers accountable. Nonprofit hospitals are often subsidized by state or federal funding and exempt from many taxes. In exchange, they are required to aid their surrounding area through public health programs and providing free or discounted care to low-income patients. (Owermohle, 8/8)

Health Affairs: How To Ensure The Quality And Safety Of Our Generic Drugs. On July 18, the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and two colleagues on the Health and Oversight Subcommittee sent a forceful letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf regarding FDA’s inadequate inspections of drug manufacturing plants in India and China: “The FDA’s recent decision to address shortages of critical drugs by allowing the temporary import of otherwise unapproved drugs from India and China makes having effective foreign inspection programs in those countries critical…we are worried that the United States is overly reliant on sourcing from foreign manufacturers with a demonstrated pattern of repeatedly violating FDA safety regulations.” (Gibson and Kellerman, 8/7)

Modern Healthcare: No Surprises Act Ruling Halts Billing Arbitration Process The federal government stopped processing payment disputes between providers and insurers regarding out-of-network bills following last week's court ruling that vacated parts of the surprise billing law. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Health and Human Services Department paused the independent dispute resolution process Thursday as the agencies adapt to a court ruling earlier Thursday that invalidated the federal government’s fee increases for filing disputes and batching requirements that would bundle multiple claims in a single dispute. (Kacik, 8/7)

Axios: UnitedHealth Cutting Back On Prior Authorizations Starting next month, UnitedHealthcare says it will move forward with plans to drop prior authorization requirements for a range of procedures, including dozens of radiology services and genetic tests, among others. UnitedHealth is among the health insurance giants who have announced plans to cut back on prior authorization as federal regulators consider tougher curbs on the practice. (Reed, 8/10)

Healthcare Dive: 5 takeaways from health insurers’ second-quarter earnings Major health insurers saw their shares dip coming into the second quarter, as investors prepared themselves for skyrocketing medical costs due to seniors returning for outpatient care. But health insurers generally outperformed market expectations in the quarter, helped by cost control measures. Payers also disclosed how they’re navigating other major stressors, including the kickoff of Medicaid eligibility checks after years of postponement during the COVID-19 pandemic, the looming publication of Medicare Advantage star ratings and the rising popularity of GLP-1 drugs for weight control. (Pifer, 8/8)

Fierce Healthcare: Most MA Enrollees Don't Fully Understand Their Plan Most Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries are satisfied with their health plan, but many enrollees feel they are overbilled, have struggled navigating the prior authorization process or are confused by the features of their plan, a new survey from Retirement Living recently revealed. (Tong, 8/9)

You Might Also Enjoy...

NEJM: Do Nonprofit Hospitals Deserve Their Tax Exemption? G Bai, S Letchuman, DA Hyman

JAMA: Understanding the US Health Care Industry as a Commercial Determinant of Health. S Galea and MCI vanSchalkwyk

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