"The budget committee document listed several possible options, such as...eliminating the tax exemption for nonprofit hospitals" nytimes.com/interactive/20… by Margot Sanger-Katz Alicia Parlapiano h/t Naomi Stark

Important, deeply weedy regulatory development: HHS just announced that they are rescinding the "Richardson Waiver" That's the policy under which HHS has, for decades, observed notice-and-comment rulemaking for (among other things) grant programs — like, say, NIH grants

Non-profit hospitals receive tax exemptions (up to ~$37.4 billion/yr) to provide “community benefits” In new JAMA Health Forum study, we find that the non-profit tax system is *structurally discriminatory* Socially vulnerable communities benefit less… jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-…

Some Medicare Advantage plans are targeting Veterans in their marketing - "Freedom Plan," "Patriot Plan," etc. And after enrollment, push them to get care from VA, pocketing premiums as profits So taxpayers are paying for the same coverage twice! jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-…

The HHS Office of Minority Health was created under the Reagan Administration.

Veteran Medicare Advantage plans target veterans with $0 premiums and supplemental benefits but exclude Medicare Part D, likely to attract veterans using VHA care. ja.ma/4c4ECmM

Veterans in Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare used dental and vision services at similar rates, with no significant difference in total spending. #SGIM25 ja.ma/42YklMX Adam Beckman MD

Many Vets enrolling in Medicare Advantage get zero care paid by plans. MA insurers argue that vets get extra benefits (vision + dental). But in new JAMA study, we find that this claim is NOT actually the truth. Adam Beckman MD Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…

Using national survey data, we find: 1. No significant differences in total utilization or spending of dental & vision services between vets in MA vs TM. 2. MA plans only spend ~$82 per veteran enrollee on dental care and ~$6 more on vision aids than what TM vets get.

Therefore, the comprehensive CMS payments MA plans get to care for vets (especially those who get little to no medical care paid by MA) are not justified by the “extra” MA supplemental benefits. Urgent need for VA and CMS to fix this inefficiency to tune of $BILLIONS per year

Grateful to the superstar Adam Beckman MD Brigham and Women's Medicine Residents + Chris Cai Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law, H. Elani Harvard School of Dental Medicine , D. Dai & J. Orav for helping lead this work! 🙏Arnold Ventures for supporting work. JAMA study link: jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…

Medicaid is a more cost-effective way to save lives than lots of other things the government pays for, like vehicle inspections or some cancer treatments. More from me + Margot Sanger-Katz on a big new Medicaid study: nytimes.com/2025/05/16/hea…

Medicare Advantage plans target veterans & justify high reimbursements with offering dental & vision benefits. But we find veterans in MA used these services with the same frequency as veterans in traditional Medicare. jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…

Between this and accelerating Medicaid work requirements to Dec 2026 (with states permitted to start even sooner), I have to imagine that the increase in uninsured would climb 2-3 million. Maybe more? But it doesn’t sound like the House is planning to wait for a new CBO score.

The Medicaid work requirement in the House bill is a lot stricter than work requirements in previous legislation.

I want to emphasize that this is 18,000 avoidable deaths per year *of Medicare enrollees.* They aren't in CBO's "uninsured" count — they're older people and folks with disabilities on Medicare who won't get extra financial help because of a proposed moratorium on a regulation.

New bipartisan bill—the “GUARD” Act— aims to finally fix the duplicative MA & VA payment loophole. Estimated to save taxpayers >$12 billion per year. Informed by great research from Brown University School of Public Health Penn LDI Cornell Law School Boston University School of Public Health & Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health + many others warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…

Cruelty and bad public policy again.