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This brief evaluates what is currently known about fraud and abuse in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace, including how the final Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Rule and the recently enacted budget reconciliation law change existing Marketplace enrollment and eligibility standards.
Until Congress passes the reconciliation bill, Marketplace insurers will face uncertainty regarding the regulatory landscape and may find it difficult to set premiums for 2026.
A CMS rule, once finalized, is generally intended to exist permanently or until it is repealed.... This temporary implementation may preserve the potential for the reconciliation bill to generate official savings through changes to ACA marketplaces in later years (2027–2034) if enacted.
On May 22, the House passed a reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which would partially pay to extend expiring tax cuts by cutting Medicaid. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the bill would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $793 billion over ten years and 10.3 million fewer people would be enrolled in Medicaid in 2034, including 1.3 million people with Medicare, otherwise known as “dual-eligible individuals”.
Taken together, the reconciliation bill's provisions impose additional administrative burdens on state-based marketplaces and could limit state flexibility in choosing marketplace policies and procedures.
Some critics of Medicaid expansion have argued that expansion diverts resources away from other groups of Medicaid enrollees, including people with disabilities and children, and that expansion enrollees are “able-bodied” implying they have minimal health care needs. However, data show that expansion states spend more per enrollee overall and on each eligibility group than non-expansion states and that nearly half of expansion enrollees have a chronic condition. This data note analyzes 2021 Medicaid claims data to compare utilization of health care services among Medicaid expansion enrollees with other Medicaid enrollees in expansion states and to compare utilization of health care services among adult Medicaid enrollees living in expansion and non-expansion states.
This brief examines Medicaid’s pregnancy and postpartum coverage and its support for strengthening and improving maternal health outcomes.
On May 18, the House Budget Committee advanced a budget reconciliation bill that includes significant changes to the Medicaid program. As anticipated, Medicaid work requirement provisions are included and preliminary estimates released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show that this provision would reduce federal spending by $280 billion over ten years, nearly half of all estimated Medicaid savings in the bill. The provisions raise many operational and implementation questions, particularly considering the experience of Arkansas and Georgia with implementing work requirements through waivers.
Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waivers offer states an avenue to test new approaches in Medicaid that differ from what is required by federal statute, so long as the approach is likely to “promote the objectives of the Medicaid program.” Waivers generally reflect priorities identified by states as well as changing priorities from one presidential administration to another. The Biden administration encouraged states to propose waivers that expand coverage, reduce health disparities, advance whole-person care, and improve access to behavioral health care. Looking ahead, the new Trump administration’s waiver priorities will likely differ significantly from those of the Biden administration. However, it is unclear how the Trump administration will treat certain waivers promoted and approved by the Biden administration.
This policy watch examines Mississippi's recent Medicaid expansion activity, what expansion could mean for residents and the economy, and key developments to watch.
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