The Medicare Rights Center looks forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration to advance policies that protect and strengthen Medicare as well as the health and economic well-being of those who rely on its coverage. To facilitate this dialogue, in the coming weeks we will release a set of detailed administrative actions for their consideration—and possible adoption—in 2021. We will also outline our legislative priorities for the 117th Congress.

A new report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) indicates that in 2019, national health care expenditures grew by 4.6%, similar to the 2018 growth rate of 4.7%.

This week, Congress continued work on a year-end legislative deal, with bills to fund the federal government through September expected to form the base of the package. Other critical items—including some COVID-19 relief and health care policies—may also be included. Negotiators are hoping to reach an agreement by December 19, […]

The incoming administration will have the opportunity to impact how Americans experience and access health care. Two organizations, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and Families USA (Families) have laid out long lists of potential actions President-elect Biden’s Department of Health & Human Services could take that would affect coverage, including through Medicaid and the […]

At the start of the pandemic, estimates about the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency, and related economic crisis, on health care spending diverged widely. Some experts predicted increased health care costs due to the expense of treating patients with the novel disease, while others anticipated reduced spending as a result of lockdowns and the deferral of non-emergent procedures and treatments.

In the waning days of the Trump administration, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), along with other federal agencies, are rushing to propose and finalize various rules before President-Elect Biden takes office. Many of these rules will face increased legal jeopardy for lacking standard notice-and-comment rulemaking in some way. Others are likely to be delayed or withdrawn by President Biden.