Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CMS Pulls Plug On Projects Aimed At Improving Care, Saving On Costs
The Wall Street Journal: Medicare Agency To End Some Demonstration Projects, Cancel $2 Generic Drug Initiative
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to terminate four demonstration projects at the end of 2025, closing out models affecting primary care, kidney care and healthcare payments in the state of Maryland. The agency will also make changes to other projects, including dropping a planned initiative that would offer certain generic drugs to Medicare enrollees for $2. CMS said its planned terminations would save nearly $750 million, and an agency official said the projects would affect millions of patients. (Mathews, 3/12)
Axios: Hospice Industry Gets Reprieve As Trump Admin Pauses Oversight Program
A federal effort to increase oversight of hospice care has been put on hold by the Trump administration, resetting efforts to root out fraud and abuse in an industry that receives more than $25 billion from Medicare annually. (Goldman, 3/13)
On Medicaid and food insecurity —
Politico: Medicaid Shortfall Forces California To Borrow $3.44B
California will need to borrow $3.44 billion to close a budget gap in the state’s Medicaid program, Newsom administration officials told lawmakers Wednesday in a letter obtained by POLITICO. That’s the maximum amount California can borrow, and will only be enough to cover bills for Medi-Cal — the state’s Medicaid program — through the end of the month, Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer separately told POLITICO. (Bluth, 3/12)
CalMatters: How Looming Medicaid Cuts Could Hit Californians In GOP Districts
Natalie Padilla signed up for Medicaid 17 years ago. She had just given birth and needed insurance to bring her son to the doctor. The Bakersfield resident was still in school, and her husband’s work didn’t offer insurance. She was on the program for six months. About an hour north of Bakersfield, Rodolfo Morales-Ayon, a 21-year-old community college student, relies on Medicaid today. He’s studying political science and wants to go to law school. Morales-Ayon grew up in Pixley, a small Central Valley town where air quality is poor and asthma and respiratory infections are common. (Hwang, 3/11)
Central Florida Public Media: Florida Healthy Kids Won’t Cover Drug For Chronically Ill Child
Breana Dion is angry. She was mad when her immunocompromised 6-year-old daughter, Kamila, was kicked off the Medicaid Children’s Medical Services health insurance plan. She was livid when the letter informing her arrived at their home two days after the coverage was canceled. And she was full of rage when her new coverage through the Florida Healthy Kids Corp. denied payment for her daughter’s weekly infusion to boost her immune system. (Pedersen, 3/12)
Stat: Food Insecurity Linked To Heart Disease Years Later: Study
Start with a snapshot: Adults without reliable access to nutritious food are more likely to have heart disease than adults who don’t struggle to eat well. But which comes first, the food insecurity or the illness? Heart attacks or heart failure don’t develop overnight, so figuring out the chain of events means panning out for the long view. (Cooney, 3/12)
On CMS nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz —
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Mehmet Oz, Trump’s Nominee To Run Medicare And Medicaid, Testifies Before A Senate Committee Friday
Mehmet Oz is heading to Washington and straight to the hot seat. The celebrity doctor and former Pennsylvania Senate candidate, nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), will testify before a committee of senators Friday. (Terruso, 3/12)
KFF Health News: In Trump’s Team, Supplement Fans Find Kindred Spirits In Search Of Better Health
President Donald Trump’s health officials want you to take your vitamins. Mehmet Oz, the nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has fed calves on camera to tout the health wonders of bovine colostrum on behalf of one purveyor in which he has a financial stake. Janette Nesheiwat, the potential surgeon general, sells her own line of supplements. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, said he takes more vitamins than he can count — and has suggested he’ll ease restrictions on vitamins, muscle-building peptides, and more. (Tahir, 3/13)
