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The Senate has confirmed health policy veteran Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as the Biden administration s head of CMS, following a drawn-out approval process. As CMS administrator, Brooks-LaSure will have extensive oversight over the massive Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs and the exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act.
The body voted 55-44 to confirm the nominee Tuesday morning. A majority of the Senate on Monday voted to limit debate on her nomination, queuing up Tuesday s final vote. Brooks-LaSure s nomination was earlier held up by Senate Republicans over an unrelated Biden administration policy move to rescind a Texas Medicaid waiver.
After Joe Biden Broke His Health Care Pledge, Emboldened Lobbyists Are Targeting the States
By Julia Rock, The Daily Poster
On 5/17/21 at 2:10 PM EDT
When President Joe Biden outlined his legislative priorities during his first address to Congress last month, notably absent was a major campaign promise: a public health insurance option. Instead, his current health reform proposal will funnel $200 billion more to private insurance companies to subsidize premiums, without any requirement that they cap out-of-pocket costs or eliminate them altogether.
As a result of Biden s approach, states have been left to introduce public option legislation themselves, in the process taking on some of the nation s largest and most politically organized businesses. From coast to coast, health insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies are using every tactic at their disposal to block states from passing public option legislation.
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Hospitals and provider groups, including the American Hospital Association and America s Essential Hospitals, are requesting that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services distribute billions of dollars that remain in a $178 billion COVID-19 relief fund meant for providers.
In a letter sent to HHS on Monday, the groups lobbied Secretary Xavier Becerra to release about $24 billion that remain in the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund, and to extend the date by which it must be used. At this point, hospitals and other providers have a deadline of June 30 to use the funds.
Rather than using that deadline, the groups suggest using the length of the public health emergency as the measuring stick, and imply that the work of treating COVID-19 patients is ongoing despite the increase in vaccinated adults.
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Citing rushed implementation, unanswered questions and potential negative consequences to patient care, 11 healthcare organizations are calling on the Biden administration to delay and make changes to mandated quality measure reporting for accountable care organizations.
The healthcare organizations, including the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association, sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra asking for a delay or other options.
The ACO Coalition has sent a separate letter to Becerra citing its concerns.
The concern regards changes to quality reporting for the Medicare Shared Savings Program published in the Final 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule.