What to do about $1.1 trillion in improper Medicaid payments 

As the 119th Congress seeks to reduce government spending through reconciliation, talk of Medicaid reductions has raised concerns about vulnerable populations losing Medicaid coverage. But simply following the law and paying only for what Medicaid allows would save hundreds of billions of dollars without ending coverage for any of Medicaid’s intended recipients. 

According to official reports, the government issued $543 billion in improper Medicaid payments from ...

Restore Medicaid’s intent: Prioritize the most vulnerable over able-bodied childless adults

As Republicans unveil proposed cuts to government programs, they should take this opportunity to reform a program that is the fourth-largest driver of spending: Medicaid.

Congress should refocus the program on its original intent: vulnerable Americans, especially those with disabilities who have nowhere else to turn for health coverage.  

Nearly 700,000 people with disabilities are sitting on Medicaid waitlists for vital home and community-based care, and they will ...

How Medicaid cuts could improve access to care 

The news is awash with dire predictions of whether or whe Trump or DOGE will cull the Medicaid rolls. 

“Millions could lose health insurance,” warns Newsweek. “Medicaid on the chopping block,” is the CBS News headline. 

Florida, meanwhile, has already cut more than 1 million from its Medicaid rolls.  

It is noteworthy that these publications accurately report that health insurance was or will be cut, not health care. Journalists...

Trump administration slashes funding for ObamaCare outreach program

The Trump administration slashed funding for Affordable Care Act navigators, which help people sign up for ObamaCare coverage on the law’s exchanges, by 90 percent. 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Friday announced health insurance navigators will receive just $10 million per year over the next four years. Navigators received $98 million in 2024. 

CMS said the cut will allow the exchanges to focus on more effective strategie...

GOP senators introduce bill to ban taxpayer funding for abortions

Republican lawmakers reintroduced a piece of legislation that would ban the use of federal funds for abortions or health coverage that includes abortion this week.  

If passed, the bill would essentially codify a decades-old policy called the Hyde Amendment which has banned the use of any federal dollars on abortions since 1977.  

There are two caveats, however. The Hyde Amendment does allow for federal funds to be spent on abortions if continuing a pregnancy en...

Obamacare back at the Supreme Court

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Biden administration achieves fourth record-breaking ACA enrollment ahead of exit

The Biden administration has achieved a fourth consecutive record year in HealthCare.gov Marketplace enrollment, one week before the final sign-up deadline and its imminent exit from office.

Nearly 24 million people signed up for Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans for 2025, according to White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden, exceeding the 21.3 million people who signed up last year.

The past four years of record-breaking enrollment have been credited to...

More Americans say health care is government responsibility: Gallup

Sixty-two percent of Americans say it’s the federal government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has health care coverage, a survey from Gallup found.

The figure is the highest it’s been in more than a decade. It slipped to its low of 42 percent in 2013, during the difficult rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as ObamaCare.

It was at its highest in 2006, when 69 percent of Americans believed health care should be covered by the governm...