Week in Washington 061523

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Week in Washington

06/15/2023

National Health Expenditures

The Office of the Actuary (OACT) released updated National Health Expenditure projections . A few highlights include:

• National Health Expenditures are expended to grow on average 5.4% from 2022 to 2031 and reach $7 trillion (or about 20% of the economy).
• Spending in 2023 is expected to accelerate (for example, Medicare spending growth is projected to increase 8%) due to increase in volume, intensity, and unit cost. Spending is expected to moderate a little in 2024 (for example, Medicare spending estimated to increase 7.4% in 2024).
• The number of insured is estimated to have peaked in 2023 (92%) but decrease down to 90% for the remainder of the decade.  

Medicaid Redetermination

Kaiser Family Foundation released updated data on Medicaid redeterminations.

According to publicly available data from 21 states as of June 13.

• 1 million Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled.
• 1.5 million enrollees had coverage renewed.
• Median disenrollment rate across the states with data is 44% ranging from Nebraska’s 12% to 73% in Idaho.

Economy

The federal reserve paused interest rate hikes this week as they evaluate the extent to which inflation pressures are sufficiently abating. The Federal Reserve is now projecting that the US economy avoids recession in the second half of the year.

Preventative Services

A tentative compromise was reached over the lawsuit that would have struck down large portions of the preventative services requirements. Compromise would reinstate requirements but allow greater freedom for individuals and businesses to opt out of portions due to religious freedom.

CMS Announcements

RADV – CMS released the ACA RADV 2021 results. Overall, the national benchmarks were mostly stable although the proportion of outlier issuers increased.

Part B Drugs – The third quarter Medicare Part B drugs that will have reduced coinsurance were announced. As part of the IRA Medicare beneficiaries, we may see lower out of pocket costs for certain Part B drugs whose prices rise faster than inflation.

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