Week in Washington 022924

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

02/29/2024

Change Healthcare

Last week, Change Healthcare suffered a cyber-attack that crippled their operations.  According to Change Healthcare, the company processes 15 billion health care transactions annually and touches 1 in every 3 patient records. They affect things from claims processing to repricing to eligibility verifications. Given the size of the operations, the American Hospital Association wrote a letter to HHS warning that the attack threatened hospitals’ finances. It’s uncertain when the issues will be resolved.

Congress

Congressional leaders agreed to a stop gap measure to fund the government until March 22. The bill is expected to be voted on in the next few days. 

The Department of Justice

The DoJ announced this week that it was launching an anti-trust investigation into United Healthcare and Optimum for potential anti-competitive practices.

CDC

CDC approved a recommendation that people 65 and older should receive a second shot of the updated Covid-19 vaccine. About 42% of people 65 and older have received the shot that became available this fall.

ACA/Medicaid Coverage by Parent Company

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation published an updated map of 2024 Medicaid and Marketplace participation. The map includes participation for both markets and were the two intersect. RWJ’s analysis found that approximately 75% of counties have at least one MCO offering both Marketplace and Medicaid plans.

Medicaid Expansion

For the first time, Medicaid Expansion passed the Mississippi House. The bill passed with overwhelming support (over two-thirds). It now moves to the Senate. The bill does include a specific clause that requires work requirements to be part of Medicaid expansion, or the expansion will not happen.

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