Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS Fighting To Restore ACA Rules That Made It Tougher To Enroll
Fierce Healthcare: HHS Appeals Vacatur Of 2025 ACA Program Integrity Rule
A Maryland judge's decision to toss several provisions of a 2025 regulation on Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces, several of which overlap with more recent rulemaking, has been appealed by the Department of Health and Human Services. According to court documents, HHS filed its appeal last week and a case was opened in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on Tuesday. Maryland District Judge Brendon Hurson had ruled in favor of plaintiffs—several cities and patient advocacy groups—last month. (Minemyer, 7/23)
Healthcare Dive: Molina Plans Additional ACA Cuts In 2027
Molina Healthcare plans to further shrink its Affordable Care Act business in 2027 in a bid to eke out profits from the smaller and sicker insurance marketplace, after the expiration of more generous subsidies caused millions of Americans to flee the exchanges. Molina’s ACA membership fell from 655,000 people at the end of 2025 to 283,000 people in the second quarter, after the insurer raised rates 30% on average to contain rising costs and reduce its exposure to the exchanges, according to results posted aftermarket Wednesday. (Parduhn, 7/23)
The CT Mirror: Lamont Pledges To Extend ACA Subsidies. His Opponents Are Split
Connecticut will provide residents with financial assistance again in 2027 to partly offset expired federal aid for Affordable Care Act health plans, Gov. Ned Lamont said after a campaign event in New Haven earlier this month. (Golvala and Phaneuf, 7/23)
Wyoming Public Radio: A Tale Of Two States: New Mexico And Wyoming In A Post-ACA Subsidy Era
All U.S. states except one in the Mountain West are seeing a decline in the number of people paying for Affordable Care Act coverage. Nationwide, five million fewer people are enrolled than last year, federal data shows. (Kinsey and Merzbach, 7/23)
In other health industry news —
Modern Healthcare: Aetna, UnitedHealthcare See Medicare Advantage Star Ratings Boost
Dozens of Medicare Advantage insurers are due higher quality bonus payments after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services revised their 2026 scores. (Tepper and Broderick, 7/23)
Chicago Tribune: Northwest Community Hospital Plans $175M Cancer Center
Endeavor Health Northwest Community Hospital hopes to move forward with plans to build a new $175 million cancer and neuroscience center after a state board approved the project earlier this week. (Schencker, 7/23)
NPR: This AI Tool Promises A 'Second Pair Of Eyes' To Clinicians
A 4-month-old boy comes into the clinic with a fever and a stuffy nose. Vyonne Njeri thinks it's just a cold. Then a yellow box pops up on her computer telling her to check his heart — because his heart rate is elevated. Njeri is a registered clinical officer in Nairobi, Kenya; she sees patients on her own like a nurse practitioner. When she listens with a stethoscope she hears a whoosh — a sign that the infant could have a congenital heart defect. "That's something I would have missed on any other day," Njeri says of the visit a few months ago. "That child would have just gone home." (Kim, 7/23)
NPR: Get Into Med School In The Graphic Memoir 'See One, Do One, Teach One'
As Grace Farris shows in her new book, once someone has switched over to becoming a professional healthcare worker, a whole new set of issues presents itself. (Oksman, 7/23)
