Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

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...

The Washington Post: Half A Million Children, Others Being Reinstated After Removal From Medicaid The officials said Thursday that states are in the process of reinstating everyone who should not have been cut off from Medicaid. Daniel Tsai, the federal Medicaid director, said at least some states will be in position to resume all of their Medicaid unwinding, as the undertaking is known, by the end of this month. But he did not identify how many — or which — states are able to make rapid corrections, acknowledging that some will need months. (Goldstein, 9/21)

Politico: How A Government Shutdown Would Impact Health Programs With less than two weeks to go, the White House is urging Congress to pass a continuing resolution — a short-term funding fix — that would keep the government open at current spending levels and punt decisions on program cuts or increases to later this year. Even if lawmakers could agree on that, it could have an effect on health programs that, according to the Biden administration, need an immediate infusion of funds. Biden, for example, wants any continuing resolution to include $3.7 billion more for CMS to assist states with their post-pandemic review of Medicaid eligibility. States have cut millions of people from their rolls, some for failing to fill out paperwork. (Hooper, 9/21)

Politico: Senate Health Panel Advances $26 Billion Primary Care Bill  The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday advanced legislation aimed at strengthening access to primary care in a 14-7 vote, despite tensions between committee leadership. The $26 billion package, introduced by Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), budgets billions in funding for community health centers and to bolster the doctor, nursing and dentist workforces. Three Republicans — Marshall and Sens. Mike Braun (Ind.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — voted with every Democrat to approve the bill. (Wilson, 9/21)

For a Deeper Dive...

CNBC: White House Takes Steps To Remove Medical Bills From Credit Reports The Biden administration wants to remove medical debt completely from consumer credit reports, so the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday outlined its proposed rules to keep unpaid medical bills from affecting patient’s credit scores. One in 5 Americans have medical debt on their credit reports, according to the CFPB. Medical debt can lead to a debt spiral for some consumers and narrow their options for housing, loans and credit cards. (Dhue, 9/21)

Reuters: US Employers To See Biggest Healthcare Cost Jump In A Decade In 2024 U.S. employers are bracing for the largest increase in health insurance costs in a decade next year, according forecasts from healthcare consultants, but workers may be somewhat spared this time around in a tight labor market. Benefit consultants from Mercer, Aon (AON.N) and Willis Towers Watson (WTW.O) see employer healthcare costs jumping 5.4% to 8.5% in 2024 due to medical inflation, soaring demand for costly weight-loss drugs and wider availability of high-priced gene therapies. (Leo and Mandowara, 9/20)

Politico: Joe Biden’s Taking On Insurers To Address America’s Mental Health Crisis The Biden administration is going after health insurers for flouting a federal law requiring them to provide mental health care on the same terms as other care. The administration has proposed new rules it says will make the insurers comply and it’s threatening big fines if they don’t. Insurers are pleading innocent and, backed by some of America’s biggest companies, claiming the Biden administration plan could make an intractable problem worse. The battle comes as Americans’ mental health care needs are at modern highs, following a pandemic-driven spike that refuses to abate. (Leonard, 9/17)

The Baltimore Sun: Kaiser Permanente Employees In Maryland, Mid-Atlantic Region Vote To Authorize A Strike The possibility of a historic health care worker strike inched closer to reality Monday after the union representing Kaiser Permanente employees in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., announced their members had voted last week to authorize a work stoppage to protest unfair labor practices if a labor agreement isn’t reached by Sept. 30. The vote, which concluded on Saturday, follows strike authorization votes by nearly 65,000 Kaiser employees in California, Colorado, Oregon and Southwest Washington in the past two weeks, the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions said in a news release. (Roberts, 9/18)

Politico: Biden To Announce First-Ever Federal Office Of Gun Violence Prevention President Joe Biden will announce the creation of the first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention on Friday, fulfilling a key demand of gun safety activists as legislation remains stalled in Congress, according to two people with direct knowledge of the White House’s plans. Stefanie Feldman, a longtime Biden aide who previously worked on the Domestic Policy Council, will play a leading role, the people said. (Ward, 9/19)

Stat: Senate HELP Committee Spars Over Health Care Workforce Policies In a striking display of discord Thursday, leaders of the Senate’s health committee clashed over a proposal to increase the number of primary care doctors and nurses in the United States. In drafting the policy, Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) circumvented Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the Republican leader on the panel. He instead negotiated with a lower-ranked Republican on the committee to produce the legislation, which Cassidy then refused to support. The friction has consequences, as the proposal is attached to critical funding for community health centers. (Cohrs, 9/21

The Hill: CDC Data Shows Obesity Prevalence More Common In A Growing Number Of States According to data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the prevalence of obesity is rising all across the nation. The CDC data found that 22 states had a prevalence, or “proportion of adults with a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 30,” of obesity over 35 percent in 2022. In comparison, 17 states had a prevalence of obesity over 35 percent in 2021. (Suter, 9/21)

Politico: House Republicans Slam Drug Price Negotiations As Unconstitutional Top Republicans on a key House panel on Wednesday backed pharmaceutical industry arguments that Medicare drug price negotiations are unconstitutional and unfair. The latest salvo between Democrats and Republicans over the landmark Medicare negotiations came during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. At least eight lawsuits by trade groups and drugmakers challenging the Inflation Reduction Act program were the hearing's backdrop. (Lim, 9/20)

Axios: U.S. Tops 500 Mass Shootings In 2023 There have now been 501 mass shootings in the U.S. this year. A shooting that wounded four people in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday night marked the country's 500th mass shooting in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Hours later, that increased to 501 mass shootings after one person died and five others were wounded in El Paso, Texas, early Sunday. (Rubin, 9/17)

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