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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is offering states money to test Medicaid initiatives designed to tackle the maternal health crisis, the agency announced Friday. CMS will provide up to $17 million over 10 years to as many as 15 states to establish what CMS describes as a holistic approach to childbirth and postpartum care that addresses patients' physical, mental and social needs. Medicaid covers about 40% of childbirths. (Hartnett, 12/15)

Illinois' Medicaid renewal rate of 90% is the highest in the nation midway through the effort to clean up the rolls post-pandemic, according to data compiled in the Kaiser Family Foundation's Medicaid Enrollment & Unwinding Tracker. (Asplund, 12/15)

Halfway through the process of determining who still qualifies for Medicaid coverage in Colorado, recipients are getting kicked off at about the same rate they were before the pandemic. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, states received extra federal money if they kept almost everyone already in Medicaid on their rolls. Under normal circumstances, the state would run annual checks to determine whether recipients still qualified based on their income, disabilities, pregnancy status, or other factors. (Wingerter, 12/18)

Shaunna Thompson was running out of childcare options. Her daughter Abbie was expelled from daycare in 2022 because of “all over the place” behavior. Thompson found an in-home provider for the toddler, but was told Abbie was “too much” to watch every day of the week. The experiences motivated Thompson to seek assistance for her daughter, who also was missing developmental milestones. Abbie, now 3, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in October of last year. (Volmert, 12/17)

Health Care Service Corp. and Elevance Health Inc. are competing to acquire Cigna Group’s business providing medical coverage to people aged 65 and over, people with knowledge of the matter said. Bloomfield, Connecticut-based Cigna expects final bids for its Medicare Advantage business to be submitted next week, according to the people. The asset may fetch more than $3 billion, they said. (Davis and Monks, 12/15)

Medicare officials are urging health plans and other payers not to put pharmacies in a cash squeeze when a new policy kicks in that may reduce how much they're paid upfront for dispensing drugs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wrote to pharmacy benefit managers and insurers Thursday suggesting they make special payment arrangements with pharmacies before the policy takes effect on Jan. 1. (Goldman, 12/15)