On Thursday, January 18, the Administration announced the creation of the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division within the HHS Office of Civil Rights. The Administration described the responsibilities of the division as promoting and protecting religious freedom in HHS programs. The Office of Civil Rights Director Roger Severino said, “Laws protecting religious freedom and conscience
By Brittney Gerteisen On Tuesday, January 9, the Senate HELP Committee continued their examination of the spread of opioid addiction by hearing from one witness, author Sam Quinones. Sam Quinones is the author of “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic,” an award-winning book published in 2015 that tells the story of how opiates
On Tuesday, January 9, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) held a press conference indicating that the Democrats are seeking $25 billion more in opioid funding to be spread across the current fiscal year and the 2019 fiscal year. This year’s budget includes a $500 million increase because of legislation enacted at
The Administration followed up on earlier reports of new work requirements under Medicaid. On Thursday, January 11, CMS unveiled guidance allowing states for the first time in Medicaid’s 52 year history to impose work requirements on people who are covered by Medicaid health insurance. Some groups are exempt such as pregnant women, disabled and elderly
The Administration has released a memo from last March that outlined how the Administration had and is implementing a strategy to undercut and weaken the ACA. The document was released after pressure by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) who blocked Administration nominations until the document was made public. The document was used by then-HHS Secretary Tom
The CHIP reauthorization is still waiting for a final resolution. Due to the most recent CBO analysis (score) a CHIP reauthorization would be significantly less and could pay for itself and perhaps some additional programs. Because of what Congress has done to the ACA, cutting families off from CHIP would not be as cheap. That
The CR includes a temporary patch for the CHIP program. The $2.8 billion is intended as an extension that would shore up states through March 2018. Critics question whether funding will last that long. It is expected that 2 million kids will continue coverage because of the small patch. Several states have been sending out
DOL Regulations on Health Plans The Trump Administration continued its assault on the Affordable Care Act. On Friday, January 5, the Department of Labor published a proposed regulation to broaden the definition of group health plans for small businesses. The regulation is seen by ACA advocates as an attempt to circumvent some of the provisions
The House attached an earlier CHIP reauthorization on their latest CR—a CR that is likely to fall flat. The House bill is similar to a CHIP reauthorization that passed earlier this fall by a largely partisan vote. The bill (HR 3922) extends CHIP for five years. Democrats opposed the bill because of the way it
Although some states, running their own health care purchasing exchanges, have kept their open enrollment going, HHS shut down open enrollment on Friday, December 15 converting what had been a 12 week enrollment period down to 6 weeks. For people living in the 39 states that rely on the federal site, reports were rampant of