Billy Wynne

Labor, HHS, and Treasury Likely to Exercise Enforcement Discretion for Cost-Sharing Disclosure Requirements for Items and Services With Extremely Low Utilization On Friday, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Treasury released Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) announcing enforcement discretion, on a case-by-case basis, for the new cost-sharing disclosure requirements – applicable to…

ONC and SAMHSA Announce Behavioral Health IT Initiative The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) announced a partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to launch a new behavioral health information technology (IT) initiative. ONC and SAMHSA will work together to invest more than…

HHS Finalizes its Regulations Regarding Medications for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder and Highlights Overdose Prevention Strategy The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a final rule to modify regulations regarding medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder. The Administration also released a…

Agency Announces $28 million to Expand Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Treatment Services The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced a $28 million notice of funding opportunity for two grant programs aimed at expanding substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services among pregnant and postpartum women and through adult and family treatment drug courts.…

Health Subcommittee Discusses Potential Reforms for Health Care Bill Following Lower Costs, More Transparency Act The House Energy & Commerce (E&C) Health Subcommittee convened a hearing to discuss additional solutions, beyond the House-passed Lower Costs, More Transparency (LCMT) Act (H.R. 5378), to constrain health care costs (hearing memo). Both parties touted the price transparency provisions…

Biden-Harris Administration Initiates Medicare Drug Price Negotiation, Unveils Resource Hub for Lower Drug Costs The Biden-Harris Administration, through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), announced it has initiated the first cycle of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. This program, established by the Inflation Reduction Act…

CY 2025 MA and Part D Advance Notice Proposes to Increase Payments to Plans by 3.7 Percent; Proposes Implements Final Components of Part D Redesign The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Advance Notice of Methodological Changes for Contract Year (CY) 2025 for Medicare Advantage (MA) Capitation Rates and Part C and…

Department Announces Actions to Address Syphilis Epidemic Amid an 80 Percent Increase in Cases Since 2018 The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a series of actions to address the surging syphilis epidemic, reaching its highest levels since the 1950s. With 207,255 reported cases in 2022, an 80 percent increase since 2018, and over 3,700 cases…

CMS Releases FAQ Regarding 12-Month Postpartum Medicaid Coverage  On Monday, CMS released an FAQs regarding the implementation of 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage.  The document includes details regarding what constitutes full benefits during the 12-month extended postpartum eligibility period, defines enhanced pregnancy-related services, outlines the mandatory tobacco cessation benefit for pregnant persons, and clarifies when a…

Cell and Gene Therapy Model with Sickle Cell Disease Focus Announced; LOIs Due by April The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) officially announced the Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Access Model, with sickle cell disease as the initial focus of the model (fact sheet, FAQs) The model is pursuant to President Biden’s executive…