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Lawmakers are considering increasing doctors’ Medicare pay in an upcoming government funding package, but their policy would only partially offset cuts providers saw earlier this year, three lobbyists and two sources familiar with the talks told STAT. (Cohrs, 2/13)

Rep. Larry Bucshon on Tuesday told doctors upset about Medicare reimbursement cuts that began in January that there’s a good chance at least part of those cuts could be addressed in a spending package Congress is supposed to pass next month. “Do I think we’ll get the full 3.4 percent?” the Indiana Republican said, referring to the level of cuts that doctors have dealt with this year, during an appearance before the American Medical Association’s national advocacy conference. “I don’t know, but people in both political parties and on both sides of the Capitol know this has to be fixed.” (Hellmann, 2/13)

Beneficiaries with Medicare Part D are poised to reap significant savings with the implementation of a $2,000 out-of-pocket spending cap for prescription drugs covered under the program, which is slated to take effect in 2025. This provision, signed into law as part of 2022's Inflation Reduction Act, aims to alleviate financial burdens for millions of beneficiaries by curbing excessive out-of-pocket costs and reducing Medicare expenditures on prescription medications. (Eddy, 2/13)

Slightly more than half of Medicare-eligible people are enrolled in Medicare Advantage — but hospitals around the country have been dropping Medicare Advantage plans due to issues with prior authorizations and denials. Hospitals and health systems in at least 11 states announced in 2023 that they would be out-of-network for some or all Medicare Advantage plans in 2024, according to reporting from Becker’s Hospital Review, a medical industry trade magazine. (Ashford, 2/13)

Major insurance companies like UnitedHealthcare and Humana have edged out private equity firms from investing in Medicare Advantage, according to a new report. (Trang, 2/13)

Baptist Health has filed a lawsuit against Humana for allegedly underpaying it for outpatient drugs purchased through the 340B drug discount program and given to Medicare Advantage patients. The lawsuit may hinge on whether federal regulations on the 340B drug discount program apply to commercial insurers that manage Medicare Advantage contracts. The 340B program offers estimated 25%-50% discounts on outpatient prescription medicines to safety-net hospitals and other providers that treat low-income and uninsured patients. (Kacik, 2/13)

Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcies in the United States, and more than 2 in 5 American adults have some. In many cases, the money people owe to health care providers forces them to cut spending on food or utilities, forgo other medical care or take on even more debt. Medical debt can make it impossible to buy a home, pay for college or save for retirement. To address the problem, Connecticut, New Jersey and a growing list of counties and cities are using public money to purchase and forgive millions of dollars of their residents’ medical debt. (Claire Vollers, 2/13)

People who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid — a group that is generally low-income with complex health needs — are expected to generate billions in profit for health insurers in the coming years, despite being a group that typically racks up expensive health care bills. (Owens, 2/14)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Listen To The Latest '�鶹Ů�� Health News Minute' 

This week on the �鶹Ů�� Health News Minute: The Federal Trade Commission says drugmakers are misusing patents to keep prices high on medication delivery devices like inhalers and injectors, and some providers are using a loophole in the Affordable Care Act to charge patients for preventive care that’s supposed to be free. (2/13)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: For The Love Of Health Care And Health Policy

Nothing melts our hearts like a health policy valentine. Readers made us swoon this season, writing poetic lines about prescription drug pricing, medical debt, primary care shortages, and more. Here are some of our favorites, starting with the grand prize winner and first runner-up, whose entries were each turned into a cartoon by staff illustrator Oona Tempest. (2/14)