Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
GOP Lawmaker: Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Isn't A 'Health Care Bill'
The Hill: Jason Smith Says Trump ‘Does Not Want’ Agenda Bill ‘To Be A Health Care Bill’
House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said Sunday that President Trump “does not want” the “one big, beautiful bill” encompassing his agenda “to be a health care bill.” “Medicaid … all falls underneath the Energy and Commerce Committee, not Ways and Means,” Smith said when asked about cuts to Medicaid via the bill on “The Hill Sunday” by NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt. (Suter, 4/27)
Stat: Congress Health Policies To Watch: Medicaid Cuts, RFK Jr., NIH Budget
Soon after returning from their spring break, congressional Republicans will have to start making some tough choices. How will they pay for up to $5 trillion in tax cuts? How much health spending will they cut? And just when are they going to drag Health and Human Services Department Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the hill to testify? (Wilkerson, 4/28)
Politico: White House Wariness Tempers GOP Plans To Share Food-Aid Spending With States
America’s largest anti-hunger program could be transformed under proposals now being debated by congressional Republicans, with some of the costs for the safety-net program potentially pushed onto states for the first time. But White House officials are urging caution as GOP lawmakers move to finalize their massive domestic policy bill, with concerns mounting about benefit cuts hitting President Donald Trump’s own voters. Lawmakers are discussing more than a dozen iterations of the still-tentative plan to scale back federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by forcing states to split at least some of the cost, according to five people granted anonymity to describe the private deliberations. Governors would have to decide whether to foot the bill or put new limits on who would be eligible for food aid in their states. (Hill, 4/27)
Politico: Medicaid Cuts Threaten To Leave Hochul With Political Wounds
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is facing a threat of political backlash if the state is hit hard by looming federal cuts to Medicaid. With Congressional Republicans on the hook to realize $880 billion in savings by Sept. 30, the Democratic governor is now forced to look for ways to compensate for the anticipated hit to the state’s $124 billion Medicaid budget — one of the largest in the country. Hochul would be on the hook to contend with the fiscal fallout from the potential cuts, forcing her to consider contingencies that come with their own political risks. (Cordero, 4/28)
Also —
Bloomberg: Most US States Ok Medicaid Pilot For Sickle Cell Gene Therapies
In a speech Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said 35 states have agreed to participate in a federal pilot program aimed at helping Medicaid patients access costly gene therapies for sickle cell disease. The states represent about 84% of Medicaid patients with the blood disorder, Kennedy said in an address to the National Council of Insurance Legislators, according to a person who attended the meeting but was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. (Cohrs Zhang and Smith, 4/25)
On Medicare —
Stat: Chris Klomp, The New Medicare Director, Has Big Ambitions
In keeping with the Trump administration’s quest to slash spending at the federal health department, it’s hired a famously thrifty technology entrepreneur to lead Medicare. As the CEO of health IT company Collective Medical, Chris Klomp flew bargain-priced Frontier Airlines and once boasted about sleeping in rental cars and crummy motels on business trips. (Aguilar, 4/28)
Modern Healthcare: Blue Cross Of Idaho’s Paul Zurlo Wants To Fix Medicare Advantage
Blue Cross of Idaho’s net loss ballooned in 2024 as it continued to hemorrhage money in Medicare Advantage. President and CEO Paul Zurlo said these woes will continue through this year and next as the nonprofit insurer adapts to an influx of members discarded by rivals fleeing unprofitable markets. Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies in other states are in similar binds. (Tepper, 4/25)
KFF Health News: When Hospitals Ditch Medicare Advantage Plans, Thousands Of Members Get To Leave, Too
For several years, Fred Neary had been seeing five doctors at the Baylor Scott & White Health system, whose 52 hospitals serve central and northern Texas, including Neary’s home in Dallas. But in October, his Humana Medicare Advantage plan — an alternative to government-run Medicare — warned that Baylor and the insurer were fighting over a new contract. If they couldn’t reach an agreement, he’d have to find new doctors or new health insurance. (Jaffe, 4/28)
