CMS Is Weighing Medicare Advantage As Recipients’ Default Enrollment Path
Individuals could still opt into a different insurance arrangement, according to Medicare Director Chris Klomp. Meanwhile, President Trump's surgeon general nominee is still facing pushback.
Stat:
Medicare Considering Automatic Medicare Advantage Enrollment
President Trump’s Medicare director said Thursday his team is considering a policy that would automatically enroll Medicare beneficiaries into Medicare Advantage plans, a controversial idea that was touted in the conservative Project 2025 policy blueprint. (Bannow, 3/20)
More on Medicare —
KFF Health News:
Rising Health Costs Push Some Middle-Aged Adults To Skip The Doc Until Medicare
John Galvin knows he needs a colonoscopy. But he’s waiting to schedule the procedure until December, when he turns 65 and qualifies for Medicare. He was already thinking about delaying it — then his monthly Obamacare insurance premium payment tripled this year to $2,460, about a third of his income, he said. And with a $2,700 deductible, he’d be on the hook for most of the diagnostic exam, a financial hit he said he couldn’t stomach. “It was going to cost close to $3,000,” said Galvin, who lives in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and recently retired as director of a durable medical equipment company. “I put it off.” (Whitehead, 3/23)
Other Trump administration news —
The Washington Post:
Casey Means’s Surgeon General Bid Stalls With Key GOP Votes Uncertain
The nascent Make America Healthy Again movement got one of its biggest wins last spring: Casey Means was selected to be the nation’s top doctor. But more than 10 months later, the controversial surgeon general pick has yet to assume the position advising Americans on how to improve their health. Her nomination has stalled as some Republicans question her stance on vaccines, her medical credentials and her pushes against the medical establishment. (Weber and Roubein, 3/23)
The Washington Post:
The CDC’s Next Chief Will Face Thorny Vaccine Politics. Here Are 3 Potential Picks.
The White House may pick a former governor, a state health director or a cardiologist who has been critical of repeated coronavirus boosters to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Former Kentucky governor Ernie Fletcher, Mississippi health director Daniel Edney and Johns Hopkins cardiologist Joseph Marine are being considered to lead the nation’s preeminent public health agency, according to several administration officials and others familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. (Sun, Diamond and Roubein, 3/22)
AP:
Detained Immigrant Children Still Face Concerning Conditions, Lawyers Say
Nearly 600 immigrant children were held in a Texas family detention center in recent months without enough food, medical care or mental health services, as their time inside stretched beyond court-mandated limits, according to court documents filed Friday. Children and families held in the Dilley detention facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were sent earlier this year also faced virus outbreaks and lasting lockdowns in December and January, although the total number of children held at Dilley has fallen in recent weeks, according to the attorney’s reports and site visits. (Burke, 3/22)
AP:
Trump's EPA Is Paving The Way For Hazier National Parks, Activists Say
A year ago, federal environmental regulators told West Virginia officials that their plan to clear sulfur and smog from skies over the state’s national wilderness areas wasn’t good enough because a dozen coal plants didn’t analyze whether they needed better pollution controls. Six months later, the Environmental Protection Agency, now firmly under President Donald Trump’s control, blessed the same plan, saying technology evaluations wouldn’t be necessary as long as visibility hit projected benchmarks. (Richmond, 3/22)
From Capitol Hill —
The Washington Post:
Senate Rejects Measure To Ban Trans Athletes In Female Sports
The Senate on Saturday rejected an amendment to a far-reaching voting bill that would have barred transgender females from playing in girls’ and women’s sports, a provision that President Donald Trump had demanded be included in the legislation. The amendment to the Save America Act, which the chamber has been debating since Tuesday, would have amended Title IX, the landmark 1972 law prohibiting discrimination based on sex at education institutions that receive federal funding. The amendment was sponsored by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), a Trump ally who has repeatedly pressed the issue. (Vazquez, 3/21)
