Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mehmet Oz Confirmed As Head Of Medicare and Medicaid Services
Stat: Senate Confirms Oz To Run Medicare And Medicaid
In a party-line vote of 53-45, the Senate on Thursday confirmed Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Oz’s confirmation was expected; he is not as controversial as Health and Human Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or some other Trump picks to run health agencies within the HHS. (Wilkerson, 4/3)
More Medicare and Medicaid news —
Politico: Key House Republican Opposes Medicaid Cuts
The chair of a key House panel in setting Republicans’ tax and spending agenda said the GOP will seek savings in Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. But Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) said that he’d oppose cutting them. Buchanan, the chair of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, said that Republicans could do it by rooting out waste. (Leonard, 4/2)
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Pa. Health Care Experts Worry About Future Of Rural Hospitals If Medicare Or Medicaid See Cuts
The Trump administration has repeatedly said it won’t cut Medicare or Medicaid benefits, but these moves have sparked fear, including at rural hospitals. “Everyone is having discussions about these possible Medicare and Medicaid cuts. It’s almost…You can’t avoid talking about it. It’s on everyone’s everyone’s lips,” said Lisa Davis, the director of the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health. (Roach, 4/4)
Kentucky Lantern: More Than 5M Could Lose Medicaid Coverage If Feds Impose Work Requirements
Under an emerging Republican plan to require some Medicaid recipients to work, between 4.6 million and 5.2 million adults ages 19 to 55 could lose their health care coverage, according to a new analysis. The study, conducted by Urban Institute researchers with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, calculated that up to 39% of the 13.3 million adults in that age group who became eligible for Medicaid when their states expanded the program under the Affordable Care Act would lose coverage if Congress required states to impose work rules. (Chatlani, 4/3)
Indiana Capital Chronicle: Indiana House Committee Greenlights Amended Medicaid Work Requirements Proposal
A bill that would tighten Medicaid eligibility in Indiana and add work requirements for certain programs was amended and passed out of the Ways and Means Committee in just under an hour on Wednesday, moving on a party-line vote. Earlier that day, a separate committee advanced two other bills impacting the state’s low-income health coverage program, with one seeking to establish a “diversion” program to the state’s fastest-growing expense. (Downard, 4/3)
Also —
Stat: DOJ Asks Judge To Move Forward UnitedHealth Medicare Fraud Case
The Department of Justice on Wednesday urged a federal judge not to toss out its long-running fraud case against UnitedHealth Group that alleges the company illegally collected billions of dollars from the Medicare Advantage program. (Bannow and Herman, 4/3)
