Week in Washington 050423

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

05/04/2023

Debt Ceiling Timing

Both the Treasury Department and CBO estimate that the debt ceiling will likely be hit in early June. Congressional efforts will likely focus on this issue in May given the severe implications of breaching the debt ceiling.

Medicare Advantage overtakes Traditional Medicare

For the first time since January 2023, there were more Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage than Medicare. Overall KFF estimates that 30.19 million out of 59.82 million beneficiaries were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.

Medicaid Disenrollment

KFF has set up a wonderful tracker for Medicaid redeterminations/disenrollment. States have already begun releasing data on a number of members that have been redetermined/lost eligibility. Eventually, CMS will release data on this but in the meantime KFF has a 50-state tracker to eyeball.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court this week accepted a case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, that could have significant implications for health care policy. At the heart of the case is something called Chevron deference. Chevron deference gives administrative agencies authority to interpret Congressional legislation. Without Chevron deference many CMS regulations could potentially be overturned. 

RSV Vaccine

The FDA approved Arexvy, a single shot vaccine that protects against RSV. The vaccine was approved for those 60 and older. An estimated 160,000 adults 65 and older are hospitalized each year from RSV. This is the first RSV vaccine that has been approved. Additional RSV vaccines, including those designed to protect newborns, are expected to be approved this year.

Reminder

The Public Health Emergency ends in one week (May 11)

©2017-2023 Wakely Consulting Group LLC  All Rights Reserved. The materials in this document represent the opinion of the authors and are not representative of the views of Wakely Consulting Group. Wakely does not certify the information, nor does it guarantee the accuracy and completeness of such information. Use of this information is voluntary.