CMS Is Weighing Medicare Advantage As Recipients’ Default Enrollment Path
Individuals could still opt into a different insurance arrangement, according to Medicare Director Chris Klomp. Meanwhile, President Trump's surgeon general nominee is still facing pushback.
President Trumps Medicare director said Thursday his team is considering a policy that would automatically enroll Medicare beneficiaries into Medicare Advantage plans, a controversial idea that was touted in the conservative Project 2025 policy blueprint. (Bannow, 3/20)
More on Medicare
窪蹋勛圖厙 News:
Rising Health Costs Push Some Middle-Aged Adults To Skip The Doc Until Medicare
John Galvin knows he needs a colonoscopy. But hes waiting to schedule the procedure until December, when he turns 65 and qualifies for Medicare. He was already thinking about delaying it then his monthly Obamacare insurance premium payment tripled this year to $2,460, about a third of his income, he said. And with a $2,700 deductible, hed be on the hook for most of the diagnostic exam, a financial hit he said he couldnt stomach. It was going to cost close to $3,000, said Galvin, who lives in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and recently retired as director of a durable medical equipment company. I put it off. (Whitehead, 3/23)
Other Trump administration news
The nascent Make America Healthy Again movement got one of its biggest wins last spring: Casey Means was selected to be the nations top doctor. But more than 10 months later, the controversial surgeon general pick has yet to assume the position advising Americans on how to improve their health. Her nomination has stalled as some Republicans question her stance on vaccines, her medical credentials and her pushes against the medical establishment. (Weber and Roubein, 3/23)
The White House may pick a former governor, a state health director or a cardiologist who has been critical of repeated coronavirus boosters to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Former Kentucky governor Ernie Fletcher, Mississippi health director Daniel Edney and Johns Hopkins cardiologist Joseph Marine are being considered to lead the nations preeminent public health agency, according to several administration officials and others familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. (Sun, Diamond and Roubein, 3/22)
Nearly 600 immigrant children were held in a Texas family detention center in recent months without enough food, medical care or mental health services, as their time inside stretched beyond court-mandated limits, according to court documents filed Friday. Children and families held in the Dilley detention facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were sent earlier this year also faced virus outbreaks and lasting lockdowns in December and January, although the total number of children held at Dilley has fallen in recent weeks, according to the attorneys reports and site visits. (Burke, 3/22)
A year ago, federal environmental regulators told West Virginia officials that their plan to clear sulfur and smog from skies over the states national wilderness areas wasnt good enough because a dozen coal plants didnt analyze whether they needed better pollution controls. Six months later, the Environmental Protection Agency, now firmly under President Donald Trumps control, blessed the same plan, saying technology evaluations wouldnt be necessary as long as visibility hit projected benchmarks. (Richmond, 3/22)
From Capitol Hill
The Senate on Saturday rejected an amendment to a far-reaching voting bill that would have barred transgender females from playing in girls and womens sports, a provision that President Donald Trump had demanded be included in the legislation. The amendment to the Save America Act, which the chamber has been debating since Tuesday, would have amended Title IX, the landmark 1972 law prohibiting discrimination based on sex at education institutions that receive federal funding. The amendment was sponsored by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), a Trump ally who has repeatedly pressed the issue. (Vazquez, 3/21)
