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
11/02/2023
Congress
Congress continues to focus on international issues (e.g., Israeli/Ukraine funding) and the budget. The current negotiations are around extending funding until January, which would avoid a government shutdown after November 17th.
Medicare Advantage Supplemental Data
ATI Advisory released new data on prevalence of supplemental benefits in Medicare Advantage. In particular, they found that next year about a quarter of plans will offer some enrollees financial assistance for groceries. Only 5 years ago that number was about 2%. There has been a reduction in meal delivery services likely as more plans shift to direct grocery benefits.
Medicaid Redetermination
As of November 1st over 10 million Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled since the start of redetermination, according to KFF. CMS data, which is more lagged and current as of July, shows that net Medicaid enrollment (including those leaving Medicaid and those joining) was down about 2.4 million beneficiaries. ACA Exchanges have picked a portion of those leaving Medicaid. About 590,000 of those disenrolled from Medicaid, as of July, had enrolled in ACA Exchange plans. ACASIGNUPs has a good summary of enrollment by state. How the current Open Enrollment for the ACA is affected by Medicaid redetermination, bears watching.
CBO Analysis
CBO quantified the federal fiscal benefits of enrolling kids into Medicaid. They found that an additional $1 spent on additional enrollment reduces the net present value of future deficits by $2, mainly due to higher earnings.
Previous editions:
10/26/2023: Week in Washington
10/19/2023: Week in Washington
10/12/2023: Week in Washington
09/21/2023: Week in Washington
09/07/2023: Week in Washington
08/31/2023: Week in Washington
08/24/2023: Week in Washington
08/17/2023: Week in Washington