Mark Hobraczk

Medicaid Reviews May Disenroll Vulnerable Duals New research shows nearly one in seven low-income Medicare beneficiaries lost all Medicaid coverage for at least one month.

After Medicaid eligibility reviews resumed post-COVID, nearly 1 in 7 #DualEligibles lost Medicaid coverage for at least 1 month.

Fewer than one-third re-enrolled within six months. Read more: https://ldi.upenn.edu/our-work/research-updates/medicaid-reviews-may-disenroll-vulnerable-dual-eligibles/

Advocates warn Medicaid work rules could hurt caregivers Groups that advocate for caregivers warn the changes could make it harder for caregivers, and the people they support, to keep the coverage they rely on

Advocates warn new Medicaid work requirements could make it harder for caregivers and the people they support to keep coverage — potentially creating barriers for those providing essential care.

Read more 👇
https://ow.ly/TKAI50YpFVz

#Medicaid #Caregivers #HealthPolicy #Caregiving

Ivermectin is making a post-pandemic comeback, among cancer patients The anti-parasitic drug became a household name during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is now being embraced as an alternative treatment for cancer. It is as politically polarizing as ever.

“So far, five state legislatures — in Tennessee, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana and Texas — have voted to make the drug available over-the-counter, causing concern among doctors who say people might overuse or misuse it, or worse — substitute ivermectin for proven treatments.”

Medicaid disenrollment spikes at age 19, study finds: University of Chicago 2026 FEB 26-- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News-- In most states, Medicaid eligibility rules shift at age 19, when individuals transition from child to adult classification. A new study led by the University of Chicago finds that this policy threshold coincides with a sharp spike in Medicaid disenrollment, exposing millions of young...

A new study finds Medicaid disenrollment spikes sharply at age 19 when eligibility rules change — leaving many young adults without coverage, even those with complex medical needs.
🔗 https://ow.ly/RKGz50Yn6E8

#Medicaid #HealthCoverage #YoungAdults #HealthPolicy

MN Medicaid cuts: Advocates address how withholding federal funds would impact state Following the Trump administration announcing it will “temporarily halt" Medicaid funding in Minnesota in response to widespread fraud in the state, advocates from several fields shared how it would impact their work and the people they serve.

Advocates in Minnesota warn that a federal pause on Medicaid funding — part of a federal fraud crackdown — could harm services for rural hospitals, children with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations.
🔗 https://ow.ly/GVgQ50YnbA0

#Medicaid #HealthPolicy #MNNews #DisabilitySupport #Advocacy

The #BigUglyBill “significantly reduced the revenues the trust fund normally receives from taxing Social Security benefits. This legislation lowered tax rates and established a temporary deduction for taxpayers age 65 or older…directly contributed to starving Medicare of critical future funding.”

Thank you Senator @drakilahweber.bsky.social for sponsoring S.B 1199 to make California the 27th state to protect health plan consumers from copay accumulator/diversion programs and make #AllCopaysCount.

MIT Study Finds Artificial Intelligence Use Reprograms the Brain, Leading to Cognitive Decline - Science, Public Health Policy and the Law By Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

publichealthpolicyjournal.com/mit-study-fi...

www.livescience.com/technology/a...

Latest Premium Tax Credit Proposal Would Raise Premiums for Millions of People This piece examines the CARE Act with a focus on the provisions that affect affordability and coverage.

Latest Premium Tax Credit Proposal Would Raise Premiums for Millions of People www.urban.org/research/pub...

If Patients Are the Goal, New Research Challenges Virginia Legislators to Rethink UPLs | EACH/PIC Coalition EACH/PIC Coalition Urges Policymakers to Better Identify and Address Patient Challenges

eachpic.org/if-patients-...

Medications don’t work if patients can’t afford or access them. Reform solutions have been designed w/o listening to WHY patients are struggling, so the benefits don’t put patients 1st. We aim to change that! The patients have spoken: bit.ly/3NDKkUP

HHS data sharing Medicaid files with ICE would likely violate a judge's order and scare a large group of people from accessing health care, including U.S. citizen children of immigrants and many lawfully present immigrants. #healthpolicy
ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/01/29/m...

Patient Experience, Revisited: What Patients Say About Prescription Drug Affordability and Policies to Resolve Patient Hardships | EACH/PIC Coalition The EACH/PIC Coalition is pleased to release results from Version 2.0 of our Patient Experience Survey: Prescription Drug Affordability and Unaffordability,

Affordability isn’t just about the price of Rx. Our new patient-led data shows that affordability is about insurance barriers, income & life changes. Context matters. When policies ignore patient reality, they miss the root causes of hardship. bit.ly/3NDKkUP #PatientWhy

Charity-Care Nonprofit Scales Up and Doubles Down - KFF Health News “An Arm and a Leg” host Dan Weissmann talks with the founder of the charity-care nonprofit Dollar For about how it helped eliminate $55 million in medical bills last year.

If hospitals gave financial assistance to everyone who qualified, it would save patients $14 billion a year.

Jared Walker of dollarfor.bsky.social is on a mission to make that a reality. He shares how the group helped clear $55 million in medical debt last year with armandalegshow.bsky.social

Alternative Funding Programs for Prescription Drugs Are Putting Patient Lives at Risk By:  Ranier Simons , ADAP Blog Guest Contributor As part of ADAP Advocacy’s continued spotlight on the dangers of counterfeit prescription d...

In case you missed our latest blog, "Alternative Funding Programs for Prescription Drugs Are Putting Patient Lives at Risk" https://adapadvocacyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/12/alternative-funding-programs-for.html Partnership For Safe Medicines Adam J. Fein Ph.D. Gilead Sciences CNBC

Rescission of Guidance to Nation's Retail Pharmacies: Obligations Under Federal Civil Rights Laws To Ensure Nondiscriminatory Access to Health Care at Pharmacies (Issued September 29, 2023) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) hereby rescinds "Guidance to Nation's Retail Pharmacies: Obligations under Federal Civil Rights Laws to Ensure Non...

As of today, HHS rescinds Biden-era guidance requiring pharmacies to not discriminate against people seeking mifepristone, misoprostol, methotrexate.

Pharmacies now have more freedom to not stock or dispense these medications.

#abortion #womenshealth #healthlaw #healthpolicy #obgyn #dermatology

The Federal Government’s Drug Price Negotiation Program Would Likely Violate Its Own Antitrust Laws A recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruling upholding the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)’s drug price negotiation program has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, one of man...

ipwatchdog.com/2026/01/26/f...

Partial government shutdown looms, threatening to stall health funding package, telehealth extensions Six annual spending bills for the current budget year are awaiting action in the Senate this week, including a key appropriations package that would fund the Department of Health and Human Services | ...

Government funding deal begins to unravel as deadline looms www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/pa...

Florida proposes cutting eligibility for an AIDS drug program, causing panic In a surprise move, Florida officials have proposed drastically reducing eligibility for the state AIDS drug assistance program.

Florida proposes cutting eligibility for an AIDS drug program, causing panic.. statnews.com/pharmalot/20... #pharma #HIV #AIDS #Florida #Gilead

Lawsuit contests RFK Jr.’s new vaccine guidance for children Several public health organizations accused the health secretary of packing a key advisory committee with vaccine skeptics, arguing its latest guidance should be voided.

Lawsuit contests RFK Jr.’s new vaccine guidance for children www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

17 Republicans voting with Democrats to cleanly extend the ACA enhanced subsidies is nearly double the number who signed the discharge petition along with Democrats to force the vote (9)

(Note that the bill the Senate is considering is not a clean extension.)

AHAvKennedyDrugPricingCA1StayRlg010726

JUST IN: 1st Circuit denies Trump admin's request for stay pending appeal in case blocking change to 340B drug rebate program. Blocked Trump initiative would make hospitals apply for rebates after rather than up-front discounts. Headed for #SCOTUS? Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Florida failed to give due process to thousands kicked off Medicaid, court finds Judge orders state to cease terminations of Medicaid benefits based on income until it gives families enough information with which to appeal.

The judge wrote that the notices sent by Dept of Children and Families seeking to remove people from Medicaid were “incorrect, confusing, misleading, and often so vague and general as to provide no reason at all.”

#Medsky #pediatrics #politics #healthpolicy

Connecticut: Access Health CT announces state subsidy program & deadline extension for Feb. coverage A few weeks ago I reported that Access Health CT, Connecticut's ACA exchange, was planning on joining several other states including California, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey & New Mexico in offering...

📣📣 Big news in CONNECTICUT: ~50,000 ACA enrollees will have the lost federal tax credits FULLY backfilled; another ~11,000 will have 50% of them backfilled by the state!

Also, they're extending the deadline for February coverage thru January 31st:

acasignups.net/26/01/02/con...

These Health Centers Are Supposed to Make Care Affordable. One Has Sued Patients for as Little as $59 in Unpaid Bills. Federally funded community health centers receive grants in exchange for serving patients regardless of their ability to pay. But ProPublica found at least five across the country garnishing patients’...

Over the last decade, a community health center in Virginia filed more than 7,000 lawsuits for unpaid bills.

It sued one couple for $59 last January, an amount that ballooned more than 600% within months due to interest, court costs and lawyer fees.

By @aliyyaswaby.bsky.social

A federal judge in the US has granted a restraining order that will stop the 340B rebate model from launching as planned on 1st January.

More Americans Experience Troublesome Healthcare Costs Than Previously Thought Findings of nationally representative survey suggest need for 'abolishing price tags'

Nearly 27% of adults said they experienced foregone care due to cost or cost burden over four years.https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/equity-in-medicine/119147

Health access on the line: How Trump’s proposed public charge rule hurts all of us and weakens our health care system - Families USA Last week, Families USA submitted a comment on a proposed rule from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) titled Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility. This proposed rule would undo the current public charge protections that were finalized on December 23, 2022 (“2022 Final Rule”). If adopted, the proposed […]

Health access on the line: How Trump’s proposed public charge rule hurts all of us and weakens our health care system www.familiesusa.org/resources/he...

The FDA Rarely Forces Manufacturers to Recall Dangerous Medical Devices, Watchdog Report Finds Lawmakers requested the report after a 2023 ProPublica and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation revealed that the FDA had received hundreds of complaints over many years about defective breathing mac...

FDA Rarely Forces Manufacturers to Recall Dangerous Medical Devices. www.propublica.org/article/fda-...

In a first, a nonprofit wins FDA approval for rare disease gene therapy The FDA has granted approval to a new gene therapy for a rare immune disorder, the maker of which is notably not a drug company, but an Italian charity.

In a first, a nonprofit wins FDA approval for rare disease gene therapy www.statnews.com/2025/12/10/n... via @statnews.com