Week in Washington

Week in Washington is brought to you by Michael Cohen, PhD. Tune in each week to read the latest on healthcare policy and get a glimpse of what’s on the horizon.

Week in Washington

05/25/2023

Debt Ceiling

Debt Ceiling negotiations continued this week with no resolution. The exact date of when the debt ceiling would be breached is unclear. Several notable dates that could affect providers is that Medicare payments would go out June 2nd (Medicaid payments go out June 3rd). If an agreement is not reached, then payments in June could be at risk.

CBO

CBO released updated estimates on health coverage in the US. Here are a  few highlights:

  • The uninsured rate is expected to reach an all-time low of 8.3% in 2023. However, that figure is expected to increase up to 10.4% in 2027.
  • CBO is expecting 15.5 million beneficiaries to leave Medicaid of which 1.6 million will migrate to the individual market and 6.2 million will become uninsured.
  • CBO estimates that approximately 4 million enrollees have coverage in the individual market as a result of enhanced subsidies that are currently expected to expire at the end of 2025.

CMS

CMS released a proposed prescription drug transparency rule this week. Overall, the proposed rule, if finalized, would require drug manufacturers to submit pricing information to CMS. It would also require PBMs to report cost information of dispensing and administering drugs to managed care plans to CMS. Finally, CMS proposed a policy to ensure states get the appropriate drug.

State Benchmarking Activities

Minnesota passed a bill that would grant authority to review health care growth costs. Not included in the final bill was authority to set specific growth targets.

Previous editions: 

05/18/2023: Week in Washington

05/11/2023: Week in Washington

05/04/2023: Week in Washington

04/27/2023: Week in Washington

 

04/20/2023: Week in Washington

04/13/2023: Week in Washington

03/23/2023: Week in Washington

03/16/2023: Week in Washington

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