Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Doctors Implore AMA To Challenge Trump's Health Agenda More Strongly
Several American Medical Association (AMA) members Saturday impatiently protested what they see as the lack of aggressive AMA pushback to many Trump administration budget cuts and other actions, specifically cuts to Medicaid and NIH. They also said at the AMA House of Delegates annual meeting that the AMA needs to be more vocal about how trade tariffs will increase the cost of drugs and other health services. (Clark, 6/8)
Chiseling away at President Barack Obama鈥檚 Affordable Care Act. Rolling back the green energy tax breaks from President Joe Biden鈥檚 Inflation Reduction Act. At its core, the Republican 鈥渂ig, beautiful bill鈥 is more than just an extension of tax breaks approved during President Donald Trump鈥檚 first term at the White House. The package is an attempt by Republicans to undo, little by little, the signature domestic achievements of the past two Democratic presidents. (Mascaro, 6/7)
The sweeping tax legislation Republicans in Congress are trying to send to President Donald Trump to sign into law underscores a striking evolution in the party鈥檚 economic agenda: away from tax policy that prioritizes economic growth and toward populist giveaways inspired by Trump鈥檚 campaign promises. House Republicans last month approved a $2.4 trillion proposal that included attention-grabbing provisions such as exempting tips and overtime pay from income taxes and a new deduction for seniors. The bill鈥檚 cornerstone, making up the vast majority of its price tag, is the permanent extension of the individual cuts from the 2017 GOP tax law, which lowered rates across income brackets. (Stein, 6/9)
Medicaid provides health insurance for nearly 80 million people but was long the electoral forgotten sibling of Social Security and Medicare. It鈥檚 clear in the ads: TV ads for House and Senate races last election cycle were 26 times as likely to mention Medicare, the health care program for seniors, as Medicaid, according to a POLITICO analysis of transcripts from AdImpact, which tracks political advertising. But that鈥檚 already changing. 鈥淚 saw elections 16 years ago where people ran on cutting Medicaid, and there were folks who were on Medicaid who were in the crowd cheering them on,鈥 said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a potential Democratic candidate for president in 2028. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the case of where we are today.鈥 (Piper, Schneider and Otterbein, 6/9)
On Medicare and hospital-at-home programs 鈥
UnitedHealth Group wants Congress to crack down on how Medicare Advantage plans bill the government for home visits. On Thursday, the Medicare Advantage market share leader called on lawmakers to implement new standards for how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reimburses for home visits. The same day, Humana offered similar suggestions to limit billing for conditions logged through in-home visits and chart reviews. (Tepper, 6/6)
Standalone children鈥檚 hospitals say the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is unfairly preventing them from offering hospital-at-home. The Children鈥檚 Hospital Association 鈥 which represents approximately 200 children鈥檚 hospitals nationwide 鈥 wants the agency to allow all children鈥檚 hospitals to be able to provide hospital-level services at home through Medicaid. However, the waiver on which hospital-at-home programs are built runs through Medicare, creating roadblocks for standalone hospitals that don't participate in the program. (Eastabrook, 6/6)
New research on Medicare Advantage claims raises concerns that lost revenue from denials could affect providers' administrative costs and may discourage them from treating patients from groups that face higher denial rates. The study by Harvard University researchers, of 270 million Medicare Advantage claims from 2019, found of the 17% of initial claims that were denied, 57% of those were later overturned. (Broderick, 6/6)
Members of the AMA House of Delegates seemed divided on that question here Sunday. "I opted out of Medicare 9 years ago, and I've never been happier as a private-practice physician," said Rebekah Bernard, MD, of Fort Myers, Florida, speaking on behalf of the Florida delegation. "AMA has made Medicare payment reform our top priority, and yet ... there is very little political will to increase physician payment. Physicians need to be aware that we have the option of leaving this broken payment system, and perhaps if enough of us take that step, our legislators will hear our pleas to fix the Medicare payment model." (Frieden, 6/8)
