Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Most Unemployed Qualify For Deep ACA Subsidies Starting This Week
CNN: Special Affordable Care Act Subsidies Available For Unemployed Americans Starting July 1
Unemployed Americans will be able to sign up for hefty subsidies for 2021 coverage on the federal Affordable Care Act exchange starting July 1, the Biden administration announced Tuesday. The benefit, part of the Democrats' $1.9 trillion rescue package enacted in March, allows anyone who receives or is approved to receive unemployment compensation during the year to select policies for as little as $0 a month in premiums and with little cost-sharing requirements, after federal assistance. (Luhby, 6/29)
Modern Healthcare: Proposed ACA Rule Change Could Drive Enrollment Among Low-Income Obamacare, Medicaid Beneficiaries
The Biden administration's proposal to give consumers more time to enroll in the Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges will lead to more low-income people gaining coverage, but analysts are uncertain whether that would encourage more insurers to offer policies on the marketplaces. On Monday, CMS unveiled a plan to give exchange customers an additional 30 days to enroll, extending the enrollment period from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15; currently, signups end on Dec. 15 each year. The agency also plans to establish a monthly special enrollment period to allow people with low incomes more opportunities to enroll in a premium-free silver plan. (Tepper, 6/29)
In other news from the Biden administration —
Politico: America’s Pandemic Stockpile Struggles To Ramp Up
Supplies of critical medical products in the Strategic National Stockpile are still well below federal targets more than 18 months after the coronavirus first emerged in the United States, according to internal data obtained by POLITICO. The federal government has built up the stockpile significantly over the last year. There are more than 35 times more N95 respirators and 10 times more ventilators available now than at the start of the pandemic. But the nation is still short hundreds of millions — or more — surgical masks, gloves and gowns. Data from the Department of Health and Human Services show the stockpile targets include 265 million gowns, 400 million surgical face masks and 4.5 billion gloves. But the current inventory includes only 17.5 million gowns, 273 million surgical masks and 525 million gloves, according to an HHS spokesperson. That’s anywhere from 6.6 to 68 percent of the recommended stock, depending on the item. (Banco, 6/30)
The Washington Examiner: EXCLUSIVE: State Department To Allow Passport Applicants To Select Gender Without Medical Documentation
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to announce Wednesday a major passport policy change: U.S. passport applicants will be able to select their gender without supplying the government any forms of certifying medical documents. Biden promised the passport gender changes on the 2020 campaign trail, and the Washington Examiner reviewed the advisory alerting congressional offices of the new policy on Tuesday evening. The announcement specifically notes that citizens and qualifying U.S. nationals "will now be able to select the gender they would like printed on their U.S. passports, even if the gender they select does not match the gender on their supporting documentation such as a birth certificate, previous passport, or state ID." (Datoc, 6/29)
Bloomberg Law: HHS Watchdog Agency To Speed Up Advisories, Modernize Data Tools
Health attorneys and compliance officers will have an easier, faster time navigating critical documents from the HHS inspector general under an overhaul of the watchdog agency’s communications and data arms.“ The pandemic and a compulsory switch to working remotely for many required us to think differently,” Christi Grimm, principal deputy inspector general of the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, said Tuesday. (Baumann, 6/29)
FedScoop: Poor Coordination Hampers HHS Cyber Threat Info Sharing With Industry
The Department of Health and Human Services doesn’t routinely share cyber threat information with private sector partners because the two centers responsible haven’t formalized coordination, according to the Government Accountability Office. GAO found the Healthcare Threat Operations Center, an interagency program providing actionable cyber data, didn’t regularly provide threat information to the Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) for sharing with industry. (Nyczepir, 6/29)
Politico: Federal Employees Give Their Agencies High Marks For Meeting Their Pandemic Needs
The majority of federal leaders met the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic this past year by fulfilling their workers’ needs during the uncertain time, according to new data. Federal agencies scored 86.1 out of 100 in the federal government category that examined workers’ views on how employers supported them during the pandemic, as well as their agency’s ability to deliver on its mission, according to the annual "Best Places to Work" report from the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group. (Ward, 6/29)
Also —
The Washington Examiner: Biden Won't Be Denied Communion At His DC Church
President Joe Biden won't be denied Communion, a church he frequents in Washington, D.C., announced Tuesday. After controversy surrounding Biden's support for access to abortion, which some say puts him at odds with the teachings of the Catholic Church, the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood released a statement saying it "will not deny the Eucharist to persons presenting themselves to receive it." (Roman, 6/29)
