Medicaid

Medicaid is a shared state and federal program to provide health insurance for poor and disabled residents. Click on the links below to explore MHA’s advocacy and member outreach efforts on federal aspects of Medicaid-related matters.
07.02.2018  | CMS Responds to Massachusetts Medicaid Waiver Requests
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services responded to the state’s 1115 Medicaid Waiver request that had been filed last September.
02.19.2018  | The Trump HHS Budget for Fiscal 2019
Last Monday, the Trump Administration released its FY2019 budget proposal.
01.29.2018  | CHIP and the Short-Lived Shutdown
The three-day government shutdown came to an end last Monday when Congress passed a continuing resolution package.
12.11.2017  | Current, and Future, Tax Bill Concerns
The House and Senate tax bills now moving to conference committee each contain provisions that are of concern to hospitals.
11.06.2017  | House Passes CHIP Bill, But Its Future is Unclear
The U.S. House on Friday passed legislation to extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for five years.
10.23.2017  | Dithering on CSRs Results in Premium Spike
A key Senate Republican, Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) worked this week to show President Donald Trump that the bill Alexander crafted with Democrat Patty Murray (D-Wash.) helps consumers – not insurers – by funding cost-sharing reductions (CSR).
10.09.2017  | Good First Steps this Week for CHIP and DSH Funding
Two big priorities for the Massachusetts healthcare community – preserving the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and stalling Medicaid cuts to disproportionate share hospitals – were helped this week by Congressional action.
10.02.2017  | As Repeal Was Debated, Other Critical Issues Loomed
MHA is concerned about federal Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) funding provided to states to support those hospitals that cover a large percentage of Medicaid recipients.
10.02.2017  | Uncertainty on Subsidies Roils Insurance Market
Republican Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) and Ranking Democrat Patty Murray (Wash.) were investigating ways to fund the cost-sharing subsidies that help lower-income people afford co-pays and deductibles on health plans they buy through insurance e
09.25.2017  | ACA Repeal Effort – Opposed by Many – May Be Stalled
The latest effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – through the so called Graham-Cassidy bill – would be, according to analyses from across the political spectrum, devastating to Massachusetts.
09.11.2017  | Federal Medicaid DSH Advocacy Continues
This week, the Massachusetts House Congressional delegation sent a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price urging that the Trump Administration not move forward on proposed cuts to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) f
08.21.2017  | CBO Report: Short-Term, Long-Term Effects of Subsidy Cuts
If the Trump Administration ends the Affordable Care Act’s cost-sharing reductions that help insurance companies provide lower income people with more affordable plans, premiums for that population would increase 20% in 2018, and the number of uninsu
07.31.2017  | Senate’s ACA Repeal Effort Begins, Stalls, Eventually Fails
Early on Friday morning the U.S. Senate voted down the latest effort – termed “skinny repeal” – to dramatically alter the Affordable Care Act.
07.24.2017  | Expect Senate Reform Bill Vote(s)
Another topsy-turvy week in Washington around Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
07.17.2017  | Latest GOP Bill: Still Slashes Medicaid, Now Increases Insurer Risk
The latest version of the Republican healthcare reform bill that the U.S. Senate leadership released on Thursday would still drastically cut federal Medicaid funding to Massachusetts.
07.03.2017  | Mass. Stands to Lose Billions and Increase Uninsured Under BCRA
The U.S. Senate Republican leadership was reported to be putting its rewrite of its healthcare reform bill back on the fast track.
06.05.2017  | Correction
Last week’s Monday Report incorrectly identified the interim director of Health Care For All.
06.05.2017  | Smuggling Drugs Into Hospitals?
One aspect of the opioid crisis that is affecting the hospital community specifically involves patients caught so firmly in the grip of substance use disorder.
06.05.2017  | A Unified Hospital-Political Front Against NIH Cuts
The benefits of funding from the National Institutes of Health run from seeding the research that helps cure disease to strengthening the national life sciences sector.
05.29.2017  | SENATE OKs LONG-SOUGHT STUDY ON INSURER “BAGGING”
The Massachusetts Senate wrapped up its deliberation on more than 1,000 proposed amendments to its FY2018 budget proposal on Thursday night.

Resources

Click on the links below for easy access to information on important federal healthcare matters and MHA’s advocacy, outreach and other work on these issues.

Both of these include links to members list, committees, and legislation and records.