The Biden Administration used the annual rulemaking that governs health plans sold on the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges to lower health care costs for consumers and improve access to health care. Part 2 of the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2022 Final Rule (the Payment Notice), issued April 30, 2021, is the second in a series of rulemakings addressing exchange plans.[1]  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) anticipates additional…

In 2019, the Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means (the “Committee”) asked the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (“MedPAC”), an independent congressional agency established in 1997 to advise Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program, to examine the role that private equity (“PE”) plays in the Medicare program.  More specifically, MedPAC was asked to examine the following four issues related to PE investment: Gaps in Medicare data that make it difficult to…

Late last month, the Biden Administration announced the second installment of its recovery plan, dubbed the “American Jobs Plan” (the “Plan”).  The Plan’s $2.3 trillion price tag includes $400 billion to revamp and reinvest in Medicaid’s home and community-based services (“HCBS”) over the next eight (8) years – representing over 17% of the Plan’s budget. Biden’s HCBS strategy aims to provide more solutions to help the overburdened healthcare system serve America’s aging and…

On April 15, 2021, the FCC announced that on Thursday, April 29, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET it will begin accepting applications for the second round of its COVID-19 Telehealth Program (the “Program”).  The filing window will last for seven days and will close on Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET.  All applications filed during this period will be reviewed after the application filing window has closed. Under this application processing round, the…

State and federal regulators, Congress, and the plaintiffs’ bar are increasingly focused on compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPEA), particularly given the opioid epidemic and COVID-19’s impact on mental health. MHPAEA compliance and enforcement is a top priority for the United States Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) with market conduct exams, state attorneys general investigations, and DOL investigations and subpoenas focused specifically on…

State and federal regulators, Congress, and the plaintiffs’ bar are increasingly focused on compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPEA), particularly given the opioid epidemic and COVID-19’s impact on mental health. MHPAEA compliance and enforcement is a top priority for the United States Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) with market conduct exams, state attorneys general investigations, and DOL investigations and subpoenas focused specifically on…