Though physicians are facing a pay cut under CMS' 2024 proposals, there is an upside in the plan for providers that participate in Medicare Shared Savings Program accountable care organizations: CMS wants to allow high-performing ACO providers to claim a share of the savings they generate early. The Medicare pay...

ACOs May Get Payment Boost In 2024 Under CMS Proposal

Massachusetts State

There’s been a flurry of regulatory activity related to Medicare Advantage (MA) in the first half of this year, with many policy actions being the result of extensive advocacy efforts among nursing home organizations. However, many of the regulations – such as those related to prior authorizations for certain...

CMS Issues Flurry of Medicare Advantage Regulation Amid Audits, But Lack of Clarity Muddies Effectiveness

The Biden administration said on Wednesday that Medicare enrollees will pay less for 64 prescription drugs available through Medicare Part B. The savings are part of a program established with the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 and is meant to rein in drug price hikes — a key goal of the Biden Administration.

The Biden administration is lowering the price of 64 prescription drugs with inflation rebates

Next year could get complicated for folks with a Medicare Advantage or a Stand Alone Part D Prescription Drug Plan. While it’s always good to pay attention to your Annual Notice of Changes (ANOC) that arrives in your mailbox in September, give it an extra look this year. With the changes coming in 2025, this is the year to talk to a Medicare insurance agent to guide you through the details if you haven’t used one before.

Medicare Changes

USA TODAY

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced charges against 193, including numerous medical professionals, across 32 federal districts in the U.S.

DOJ charges 193 people, including doctors and nurses, in $2.7B health care fraud schemes

Alabama State

WashingtonExaminer

This week, 19 states and Puerto Rico are rolling out their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to qualifying residents.  SNAP benefits are paid to low- and no-income households that are in need of financial assistance to pay for food and groceries. Households qualify for SNAP if their net monthly income is at or below 100% of the federal […]

Food stamps: 19 states are delivering SNAP benefits worth up to $1,751 this week

Virginia State

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Margaret Minnicks

WVTF reported that a new Virginia law will become effective on July 1, 2024. The law will prevent utility companies from disconnecting services on various occasions, which could leave someone without power for days.

A new law will keep utilities from being disconnected on weekends and holidays in Virginia

Chicago, IL

Foodie in Chicago

Shortly before 3 AM, people in the Chicago area may have felt their houses shake as a 3.4-magnitude earthquake occurred about 60 miles west of the city. (CHICAGO) The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported a 3.4-magnitude earthquake around Somonauk, IL. Somonauk is in DeKalb and LaSalle Counties, 64 miles west of Chicago.

Did You Feel the Earthquake?

New York City, NY

Cheryl E Preston

Yesterday was the third time this year that an ad stating Chelsea Clinton lives in a beautiful Virginia home popped up on my laptop. My computer did not warn me this was a dangerous site, so this time, I clicked on the link.

Chelsea Clinton is rumored to be living in Virginia but probably still in NYC

Pennsylvania State

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Bucks County Beacon

With an assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, the U.S. experienced another violent episode in its increasingly polarized politics. Former President Trump, who’s about to formally become the GOP nominee for president in the 2024 election, survived the attempted assassination when, initial reports said, a bullet grazed his ear . But one rally attendee was killed , more spectators were injured and the suspected gunman is also dead. The Conversation’s politics editor, Naomi Schalit, spoke with University of Massachusetts, Lowell, scholar Arie Perliger after the event. Perliger offered insight from his study of political violence and assassinations. Given the stark political polarization in the U.S., Perliger said, “it’s not a surprise that eventually people engage in violence.”

‘One Inch from a Potential Civil War’? Trump Shooting a Close Call for American Democracy

Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles Times

The VA's practice of outsourcing construction on its West L.A. campus discriminates against disabled veterans whose compensation disqualifies them for the housing, a judge rules.

VA housing policy discriminates against disabled veterans, federal judge rules

During the Medicaid eligibility renewal process, also known as the unwinding, which began in April 2023, over 1 million seniors and people with disabilities lost coverage. While problems persist with re-enrolling these groups to the Medicaid rolls, there are signs that states are working to reduce administrative burdens that block these populations from receiving coverage, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation report, Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment Policies for Seniors and People with Disabilities (Non-MAGI) During the Unwinding.

Report: States improving Medicaid renewal processes for seniors, people with disabilities

California State

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The HD Post

CALIFORNIA – Starting July 1, landlords will only be allowed to collect one month’s rent for the security deposit on a rental property. Assembly Bill 12, signed into law last October, says regardless of whether the residential property is unfurnished or furnished, only one month’s rent can be charged in addition to any rent for the first month paid on or before initial occupancy.

Law limiting security deposits goes into effect July 1

Carlsbad, CA

OptumRx will pay $20 million to resolve claims the company violated the Controlled Substances Act by improperly filling certain opioid prescriptions, the Department of Justice recently announced. The agency claims OptumRx did not fill prescriptions correctly for "trinity prescriptions" like benzodiazepines and other muscle relaxants from April 2013 to April...

DOJ slaps $20M opioid prescription penalty on OptumRx

Alameda Post

California regulators just stopped AT&T from pulling the plug. California’s Public Utilities Commission on June 20 rejected AT&T’s application to stop providing landlines and other services in areas where there is no other option.

Still Need Your Landline?

Florida State

POLITICO

A POLITICO analysis found that Medicaid expenditures for undocumented immigrants in Florida has dropped dramatically since Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law directing hospitals to ask patients about their immigration status.

Florida Medicaid spending on undocumented immigrants plummets after new law

Kentucky State

Northern Kentucky Tribune

Kentucky’s Community Actions Partnerships have announced the starts date for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Summer Subsidy, aimed at helping Kentucky households offset summer cooling costs.

LIHEAP Summer Subsidy program to help with summer cooling costs to begin enrollment July 16

You may have seen tennis shoes across telephone wires in Virginia and wondered about their significance.I was initially told this was done in honor of someone who had died from gun violence in the area.

Tennis shoes on wires across Virginia have different meanings

After evaluating the association between the expanded Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits and plan composition, authors determined that adoption was not associated with large demographic shifts in enrollment. ABSTRACT. Objectives: In 2019 and 2020, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans received historic flexibility to begin to address members’ nonmedical and social needs through...

The Impacts of Supplemental Benefits on Medicare Advantage Plan Composition

“Who sits there and thinks, with all the needs we have in America, of criminalizing the homeless?” wonders Pastor Robert Brown of Bristol’s Bible Evangelical Methodist Church after learning that the United States Supreme Court approved punishing those experiencing homelessness who have nowhere to sleep.

After SCOTUS OK’s Criminalization of Homelessness, Pennsylvania Democrats Plan Legislative Response to Protect Rights of the Unhoused

NewsBreak

Battle Over Medicare’s Physician Pay Rates Might Heat Back Up

With doctor lobbyists pessimistic that Congress will increase physician pay rates overall, it's expected that primary care doctors and specialists will be left to duel over...

Battle Over Medicare’s Physician Pay Rates Might Heat Back Up

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