This week, the Senate Finance Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced measures to reauthorize and fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Recall earlier this week, Congress allowed CHIP funding to lapse. The Senate Finance Committee quickly advanced a bipartisan measure which would extend CHIP funding for five years and provide additional…
Read More »This afternoon, U.S. Health and Human Secretary Tom Price, offered his resignation to President Trump. The President is expected to designate Don J. Wright, the current Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and the Director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion within the Department of Health and Human Services, as Acting Secretary.
Read More »This week the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a powerful awareness campaign featuring real-life accounts of people recovering from opioid use disorder and people who have lost loved ones to prescription opioid overdose. The campaign aims to increase awareness and knowledge about the risk of prescription opioids and stop inappropriate use….
Read More »With funding set to expire this Sunday, October 1, both the Senate and House will not pass a reauthorization measure in time for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). By missing the deadline for reauthorization, states may soon have to notify families whose children are covered by the program that they may lose coverage. While…
Read More »Earlier this week, Senate Republicans announced they would not hold a vote on the last-ditch Graham-Cassidy proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Over the weekend and early this week, a handful of senators continued to express uncertainty and opposition to the proposal, including Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), John…
Read More »Seeing the proposal as a last-minute opportunity to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prior to the expiration of key procedural powers at the end of the month, Senate Republicans have been quickly attempting to gather votes on H.R. 1628 by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and cosponsored by…
Read More »The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), in collaboration with Covered California and the Department of Finance (DOF), released a preliminary analysis on the potential impact the Graham-Cassidy proposal would have on California. The analysis notes similar programmatic and fiscal concerns with previous Republican health care proposals, but notes the Graham-Cassidy proposal “is the…
Read More »This week, two very different proposals related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and federal health insurance marketplaces were introduced by members of Congress. Washington continues to debate and discuss potential options to health care reforms, and we highlight some of this week’s activities below. Graham-Cassidy Proposal Led by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and…
Read More »This week, Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Vice Chair Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) announced agreement on a $35 billion five-year funding extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Such long-term extension is expected to provide stability to the CHIP program and its beneficiaries, as well as increased flexibility for states to administer…
Read More »This afternoon President Trump signed a package to provide $15.3 billion in disaster assistance to Hurricane Harvey ravaged communities in Texas and Louisiana. The proposal, passed by the House this morning on a 316-90 vote, extends the federal debt ceiling as well as funds the government at current levels through Friday, December 8. Meanwhile, both…
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