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House Passes Budget Framework; Healthcare Cuts Heat Up The House adopted a budget reconciliation bill today with just one GOP defection. House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump got three other doubters to convert to “yes.” The vote was 217 to 215. The bill paves the way for final passage down the road but a great deal of work has to occur, with committees now meeting on spending cut targets. This includes $880 billion in healthcare spending cut targets. Johnson and perhaps Trump convinced holdouts that Medicaid rolls will not be cut except for work requirements and if someone is illegally on the program. It may be hard to keep the commitment with a large reduction bogey. The victory was major for Johnson but he now needs to hold all these folks in place as spending cuts are debated in committees. Meanwhile, healthcare news is heating up due to the

More Surprises From Trump On Drug Pricing Donald Trump’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in late January said it would continue Medicare drug price negotiations. Then, in a Super Bowl interview, Trump bemoaned the cost of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs in America compared with other developed nations. Now, the Trump administration has chosen to defend the Medicare drug price reform law in court. In a filing Feb. 19, the government agreed with the legal arguments used by the Biden administration and by a lower court. Trump so far is not what Big Pharma hoped. #ira #medicare #partd #drugpricing #branddrugmakers https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/trump-admin-defends-ira-drug-price-negotiation-program-novartis-lawsuit FDA Workers May Be Headed Back To Work Fired Food and Drug Administration (FDA) probationary workers are receiving calls that their terminations are being rescinded. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) commission clearly jumped the gun on firing all probationary positions throughout government. #doge #layoffs #trump #spending https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/mass-layoffs-hhs-cdc-cuts-1300-probationary-workers-reports-say United Comes

Centene and Molina Could Be Hurt By Medicaid Cuts Medicaid managed care-dominant insurers Centene and Molina could be hurt by Republicans’ plans for cuts to Medicaid. The House GOP has a target of $800 billion in healthcare spending reductions. While President Trump and GOP leaders have promised no dramatic changes to Medicaid, the targets would clearly mean deep reductions. While work requirements and fraud cuts are certain, other impacts could be reimbursement changes at the state level. Centene is the largest Medicaid managed care insurer with 13 million Medicaid beneficiaries as of Dec. 31. The membership generates 62% of the company’s revenue. Medicaid represents 88% of Molina’s membership and nearly 80% of its revenue for 2024. (Article may require a subscription.) #medicaid #managedcare #budgetreconciliation #trump #congress #molina #centene https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/medicaid-cuts-centene-molina-healthcare WSJ Says DOJ Probing United The Wall Street Journal reports that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is probing UnitedHealth Group’s billing

Trump Limits Public Benefits To Undocumented President Donald Trump issued an executive order that limits public benefits for undocumented immigrants. It directs each federal agency to identify programs that currently allow undocumented immigrants to receive federal benefits and to comply with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which generally prohibits such benefits. The order also mandates the enhancement of eligibility verification systems. It also seeks to limit or bar funding state and local programs that either subsidize illegal immigration or support sanctuary policies. Fourteen states plus D.C. provide state-funded healthcare coverage to children regardless of immigration status. California is the first state to offer Medicaid coverage to all eligible undocumented individuals. #trump #immigration #healthcare https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/trump-signs-executive-order-to-end-federal-benefits-for-undocumented-immigrants.html Medicaid Cuts Consternation President Donald Trump’s endorsement runs smack into his public commitment that he will not take a meat axe to Medicaid benefits. Trump this week endorsed the one-bill approach to