PAYGO Politics
President Donald Trump and Republicans said they would not cut Medicare, but the budget reconciliation could very well do that. Since the bill actually increases the deficit in future years, what is known as PAYGO sequestration kicks in to address the increase. Medicare is one program that can be cut under the law to a cap of 4%. On an earlier version of the bill, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said about $500 billion in cuts could be triggered beginning in 2026.
PAYGO can be overruled but the Senate Democrats would have to join Republicans to overrule PAYGO by 60 votes. In this political world, will that happen this time as it has in the past? Will Democrats blame Republicans for passing the budget bill and not overrule or would that then put the blame on Democrats?
See my blog this week for all the details of the budget bill: https://www.healthcarelabyrinth.com/saga-over-big-beautiful-bill-has-passed-for-good-or-bad/
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#budgetreconciliation #medicare #deficit
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-regulation/mh-tax-law-medicare-cuts-paygo-law
Cybersecurity Debated
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee held a hearing on Wednesday to address consumer health data privacy and cybersecurity vulnerabilities for healthcare organizations. Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-LA, promoted his proposed bill, the Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act of 2024. It would provide grants to healthcare organizations victimized by cyberattacks, support education on cybersecurity and improve federal agency coordination during cyber incidents. A major focus was on rural hospitals, given prominent attacks and their financial woes.
#healthcare #cybersecurity
HHS Rescinds Liberal Interpretation on Immigrant Access
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has rescinded a policy from 1998 that gave undocumented immigrants access to certain federal health benefits. The policy was a far-reaching interpretation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. HHS says the policy sidestepped the law by giving too much access to federal benefits, arguing the act actually attempted to uniformly restrict eligibility for noncitizens. The measure would mean noncitizens are not eligible for non-emergency Medicaid, the SNAP program, Affordable Care Act subsidies and other programs. The just-passed budget reconciliation bill also restricts access to many government healthcare programs.
#healthcare #coverage
Hospital At Home Bill
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill that would extend the hospital-at-home program in Medicare. More than 200 hospitals across 34 states provide acute hospital care at home under a CMS waiver introduced during the pandemic. The program expires at the end of this federal fiscal year (September 30).
#hopsitals #homecare #medicare
BCBSLA Loses Star Suit
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana has lost its legal challenge over how its 2025 Medicare Advantage (MA) star ratings were calculated. A federal court sided with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The court agreed with CMS’ approach to assigning a 3.5 Star based on a contract merger.
Earlier this week, Alignment Healthcare partially won its suit against CMS.
#star #quality #cms #medicareadvantage
https://www.beckerspayer.com/legal/bcbs-louisiana-loses-medicare-advantage-star-ratings-lawsuit
— Marc S. Ryan
