CMS Ditching Antiquated Fax Machines For Claims-Related Documentation
With the exception of prior authorization, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is shifting to electronic submission standards for attachments and digital signatures. The agency expects to save $781 million annually with the change. Plus, the challenge of finding a new CDC director.
MedPage Today:
'The 1980s Called': CMS Rule Aims To Phase Out Fax Machines For Health Claims
The rule officially takes effect on May 26 but has a 2-year timeline for implementation. The standards will apply to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-covered entities, including Medicare, Medicaid, and private health plans; healthcare clearinghouses; and healthcare providers that conduct electronic transactions. (Frieden, 3/23)
More health news from the Trump administration —
Healthcare Dive:
FTC Creates Healthcare Task Force
The Federal Trade Commission is forming a new healthcare task force as regulators double down on combating anticompetitive behavior in the sector. On Friday, Commissioner Andrew Ferguson directed FTC staff to create a new group to lead healthcare enforcement, create agency-wide investigation strategies, better identify legal cases where regulators can get involved and find new areas to crack down in the sector. (Parduhn, 3/23)
Stat:
Trump’s Drug Plan Hinges On A Strategic Bet: Raising Prices Abroad
Comments from a top Trump administration health official add to signs of a major flaw in the president’s most-favored nation drug pricing plans. The official, Chris Klomp, said last week that the most-favored nation deals aim to increase the prices of new drugs in peer countries, not lower U.S. prices. But by the time companies launch those drugs abroad, the deals might be over and Trump might be out of office. (Wilkerson, 3/24)
KFF Health News:
‘They Tricked Me’: A Father Was Chained After He Went To ICE To Reunite With His Kids
Carlos arrived at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New Mexico in December, believing he was one step closer to reuniting with his children. By that point, his 14-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter had been in a federal shelter in Texas for nearly a year after crossing the border to be with him. “I feel like I’m suffocating inside this shelter, trapped with no way out,” Carlos’ son said, according to one of the teens’ attorneys, when asked to describe how he felt after months at the Houston-area facility. “Every day, the same routine. Every day, feeling stuck. It makes me feel hopeless and terrified.” (Boyd-Barrett and Rayasam and Seitz, 3/24)
On changes at the CDC and NIH —
Roll Call:
CDC Dilemma: Nominee May Need Both MAHA And Science Chops
As a deadline arrives this week to nominate a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, some Republicans are skeptical the administration will find someone who can check all the boxes necessary for confirmation. The candidate will need the “Make America Healthy Again” mindset of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Health and Human Services Department, while also appeasing a set of stick-to-science senators increasingly unhappy with Kennedy’s direction. (Cohen, 3/24)
The New York Times:
Inside The Turmoil At RFK Jr.’s CDC, As Told By Current And Former Employees
Forty-three current and former C.D.C. employees on the changes they say are replacing science with ideology — and making Americans more vulnerable. (Interlandi, 3/23)
The New York Times:
Takeaways From The Times’s Inside Look At The C.D.C.
When Donald J. Trump announced that he was choosing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, he promised to let Kennedy, who had amassed a large following while spreading falsehoods about vaccines, “go wild on health.” Since his confirmation in February 2025, Kennedy has tried to do exactly that. He has taken particular aim at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, calling it “the most corrupt agency at H.H.S. and maybe the government.” (Interlandi, 3/23)
Stat:
NIH Cuts Disproportionately Affected Female Researchers, Study Says
Academics have long referred to their field as a leaky pipeline — gradually bleeding researchers from marginalized communities as they progress through their careers. A new paper, published Monday, suggests that grant terminations from the National Institutes of Health over the past year may have further punctured that pipeline. (Oza, 3/23)
