The Medicare Committee released an issue brief, Medicare’s Financial Condition: Beyond Actuarial Balance, that examines the findings of the 2024 Medicare Trustees Report with respect to program solvency and sustainability.

The Health Practice Council’s Medicare Committee submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the draft part one guidance for the Maximum Monthly Cap on Cost-Sharing Payments Program.

The Health Practice Council’s Medicaid Committee submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Managed Care Access, Finance, and Quality (Managed Care NPRM).

The Medicare Committee released an issue brief focusing on the near and long-term financing challenges facing the Medicare program based on the 2023 Medicare Trustees Report.

The Medicaid Committee released a public policy issue brief providing an overview of Medicaid managed care state-directed payments. The brief discusses: how these payments have evolved from supplemental and pass-through payments; recent changes to federal guidance governing them; and recommendations from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC).

The Health Equity Committee released a public policy issue brief on health care and health insurance system risk assessment and risk adjustment in the context of health equity. Risk assessment and risk adjustment are valuable tools that are used for a variety of purposes and are being reexamined to understand whether and how they should incorporate social risk factors.

The Health Equity Committee sent comments responding to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) request for information (RFI) that was seeking public comment on the Medicare Advantage program. The committee specifically focused on the health equity aspects of the questions posed within the RFI.

The Medicare Committee released an issue brief on the financing challenges facing the Medicare program based on the 2022 Medicare Trustees Report.

The Long-Term Care Medicaid Subcommittee submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on the proposed rule, “Medicare Program; Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs.” The comments focused on dual-eligible special needs plans (D-SNP’s) and separate medical loss ratio (MLR) requirements.

Medicare Committee Chairperson Rina Vertes and Academy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello submitted a statement for the record to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth regarding the Feb. 2 hearing, “The Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Future of Medicare Financing.”

The Medicaid Committee released an issue paper, Considerations for Reflecting the Impact of COVID-19 in Medicaid Managed Care Plan Rate Setting, which explores key components of rate setting during or shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, including data, assumptions and adjustments, risk mitigation, and communication.

Health Care Delivery Committee and its Telehealth Work Group comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on CMS’ proposed rule on Medicare, payment policies, and enrollment regulation updates.

Medicare Subcommittee issue brief on the financing challenges facing the Medicare program based on the 2021 annual review of the Medicare program’s trustees.

The Academy’s Essential Elements paper, Medicare’s Long-Term Sustainability Challenge, provides updated figures and information on the financial outlook of Medicare following the release of the 2021 Medicare Trustees report. Essential Elements is a series designed to make actuarial analyses of public policy issues clearer to general audiences.

Academy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello presentation from “Medicare Solvency Projections and Potential Policy Solutions” webinar sponsored by the Alliance for Health Policy. Presentation provides basic program information, covering Hospital Insurance (HI) and Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI), the projected depletion of the HI trust fund, and also notes that Medicare’s sustainability challenges go beyond solvency.

The Health Practice Council submitted a comment letter to the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), on review of agency actions related to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, as put forward in a recent presidential executive order. The letter provides references to previous Academy comment letters to agencies regarding relevant proposed rules.

The Health Practice Council has released an issue brief that examines the different types of risks that insurers can face and the various risk mitigation mechanisms that can be used to address them, Health Insurance Risk Mitigation Mechanisms and COVID-19.

Medicare Subcommittee issue brief on the fundamental long-range financing challenges facing the Medicare program.

Medicaid Subcommittee issue brief on growing health care costs concerns in the Medicaid program and an analysis of public policy proposals to address them.

The Medicaid Subcommittee submitted comments on the proposed rule, Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation (MFAR).