This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released preliminary data on the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on people with Medicare. It confirms that older adults are at high risk of infection and serious illness, and that the virus is disproportionately impacting communities of color.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a harmful final rule that removes key Affordable Care Act (ACA) protections against discrimination based on sex stereotyping and gender identity.

The coronavirus public health emergency continues to put older adults and people with disabilities at significant risk. Federal policymakers have made important strides in responding to the outbreak, but more must be done to help people with Medicare.

While all Americans have felt its effects, the coronavirus public health emergency is disproportionately impacting minority communities, especially Black, Hispanic or Latino, and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people.

A new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health Tracking Poll offers insights into the impact of the coronavirus on American’s personal health and economic and food security, as well as about the Medicaid program.

A recent analysis from The Commonwealth Fund highlights the problems consumers with “short-term” health plans may face during the coronavirus emergency. Over the past few years, the Trump administration has expanded access to short-term health plans that are not required to adhere to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) consumer protections or insurance regulations. This non-compliance allows short-term plans to charge premiums based on health status, decline coverage for pre-existing conditions, impose annual or lifetime limits, and exclude coverage for the essential health benefits.

On Tuesday, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled their vision for the next round of coronavirus relief legislation,

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently took several steps to further expand the availability of Medicare telehealth services during the coronavirus emergency. Last week, the agency announced several temporary policy changes, and released an updated version of its coronavirus-related blanket waiver guidance that reflects these developments. According to CMS, the revisions are intended to “increase access to telehealth for Medicare patients so they can get care from their physicians and other clinicians while staying safely at home.” Notably, these flexibilities are in addition to those previously made by Congress and CMS, including via the CARES Act and the federal rulemaking process. Below is a summary of key changes.

A new Associated Press (AP) story, “Medicare applications raise anxiety for seniors in pandemic,” highlights the challenges Medicare-eligible individuals may face when trying to enroll in the program during the coronavirus emergency. Their experiences, and those of callers to Medicare Rights’ national helpline, indicate the pandemic is exacerbating an already cumbersome process.

People with Medicare who are denied coverage for a health service or item by Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA), or their Part D plan may appeal—or formally request a review of—that decision.

During the coronavirus public health emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is allowing new flexibilities in how these appeals are managed. The temporary changes give the entities hearing or processing a beneficiary’s appeal the authority to remove barriers that might otherwise prevent a beneficiary from successfully filing or pursuing an appeal.