Strategy On Exchange Subsidies Continues; Another Shutdown Possible
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffires, D-NY, predicted that an extension of enhanced Exchange subsidies will pass the House with backing from both sides of the aisle. “House Democrats are going to continue to fight to get this extension through the Congress on our side. It will pass with a bipartisan majority,” Jeffries told ABC News’ “This Week.” With four GOP members joining Democrats to force a vote on the floor in January via discharge petition, the likelihood is there that the vote could pass.
The three-year extension failed in the Senate, unable to get 60 votes. A bipartisan group there still thinks a compromise including a shorter extension, minimum premiums, an income cap, and fraud protections could be hammered out for each chamber. But there are reported barriers to a deal, including political pressures in the GOP caucus not to vote on any extension bill.
A further complication: Senate Democrats are raising the threat of another government shutdown in late January. Senate Democrats walked away from a potential deal to fund numerous departments covering about two-thirds of the discretionary budget.
Additional articles: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5659243-jeffries-predicts-aca-extension/ and https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5657868-senate-health-care-battle-obamacare/
#exchanges #healthcare #coverage #governmentshutdown
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5657834-senate-democrats-threaten-government-shutdown
Trump Admin Curtails Health It Regs
The Department of Health and Human Services wants to curtail Biden administration efforts related to health information technology. HHS’s informational technology office issued two proposed rules that would scrap elements of a rule not finalized as well as streamline HHS’ health IT certification program. The move is part of the Trump administration’s deregulation efforts.
ONC finalized portions of that rule focused on patient privacy and information blocking policies in December 2024. As for remaining pieces of the rule, Trump officials would:
- Pare back voluntary certification standards for health IT software tools used by public health organizations and payers.
- Abandon requiring certified health IT vendors to implement application programming interfaces, or APIs, that ease data exchange between payers, providers, and patients.
- Abandon proposed criteria that asked health IT vendors to exchange public health data.
- Revise or remove certain information blocking policies, which exist to prevent provider interference with the access, exchange, or use of electronic health information.
(Article may require a subscription.)
#hit #cms #interoperability
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-regulation/mh-hhs-interoperability-health-it-regulations
— Marc S. Ryan
