Vaccine Change Injunction
A federal judge issued an injunction against changes on vaccine policy. The injunction blocks recent changes to the vaccine schedule and likely halts further potential changes in the near term. Vaccine take-up has rapidly eroded since Secretary Kennedy took office. Researchers have estimated that further reductions in vaccine take-up in measles vaccination rates could increase health care costs by about $1 billion per year.
Democratic Campaign Health Policy
Modern healthcare ($) reported that a plan circulating among Senate Democrats, should they regain power, would focus their health care efforts on rolling back the reconciliation bill changes to Medicaid, restoring enhanced premium tax credits, introducing a public option in the individual market, and increase medical loss ratio restrictions on insurers.
Economy
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell noted growing concern about the economy. In particular he noted that job creation has generally been nearly nonexistent in the past year. He also noted concerns about inflation. From a health care perspective, higher inflation could push trends upward as well as shift coverage away from group insurance towards alternative coverage options or no coverage.
Medicare Reports
There were several key reports released around Medicare this week.
- MedPac released its recommendations for 2027 Medicare payment rates. Key recommendations included keeping inpatient/outpatient payment rates at current law and shifting the DSH methodology to an index-based approach.
- The Joint Economic Committee (JEC) released a report finding that Medicare Part B premiums increased last year due to Medicare Advantage overpayments. The findings could reduce the chances that CMS adjusts its proposed changes to Medicare Advantage for 2027.
