Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CMS Pick Signals Shift Toward Requiring Medicaid Participants To Have 'Skin In The Game'
As governor of Indiana, Mike Pence created an alternative Medicaid program he hoped could be a national model for revamping the joint federal and state health care program for the poor. On Tuesday, the architect of Pence鈥檚 program, which requires participants to make monthly contributions, was tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to head the agency which oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs. (Groppe and Cook, 11/29)
Verma鈥檚 approach to expanding the state鈥檚 Medicaid program was unusual and somewhat controversial. In return for significant choice in their health coverage and enhanced benefits, the plan required many of the state鈥檚 poorest residents to contribute a few dollars into health savings accounts, then purchase their own insurance with help from the state. The idea was to make sure that the newly covered patients had some skin in the game when they made their health-care decisions. (Bernstein, 11/29)
Given her extensive experience reforming state Medicaid agencies, the next CMS administrator could lead efforts to make Medicaid patients more financially responsible for their insurance coverage. President-elect Donald Trump Tuesday announced that Seema Verma, the president, CEO and founder of SVC, a national health policy consulting company that has helped craft Medicaid expansion plans in Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, would work under Rep. Tom Price, who currently is a congressman from Georgia but has been nominated for HHS secretary. (Dickson, 11/29)
Her selection to lead CMS is likely to provoke strong reactions from Democrats and advocates of universal coverage and the Affordable Care Act who argue that her reforms have restricted access to medical services. Trump also selected Republican Congressman Tom Price of Georgia, a fierce critic of Obamacare, to be secretary of Health and Human Services. (Ross, 11/29)
On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump tapped Seema Verma, a health care consultant, to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That鈥檚 the part of the Department of Health and Human Services that oversees Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children鈥檚 Health Insurance Program and has a budget of just under a trillion dollars in 2016.Verma comes to the job with extensive Medicaid experience. Her consulting firm, SVC, Inc., worked closely with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to design Indiana鈥檚 Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. (Harper, 11/29)
President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 choice to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is Seema Verma, the founder and CEO of a health policy consulting firm. Verma has experience working with the Indiana state government, crafting its Medicaid expansion. What might Indiana鈥檚 model mean for Medicaid in other states? (Kim, 11/29)
