Medicaid reform effort faces an uncertain future

Politico

14 hours ago

Good morning and welcome to the Weekly New York Health Care newsletter, where we keep you posted on what's coming up this week in health care news, and offer a look back at the important news from last week.
Beat Memo
New York's Medicaid program just started rolling out a $7.5 billion health equity reform initiative at the start of the year, but state health officials are already looking ahead.
The state Department of Health is mulling strategies for the program's renewal application, which is due to the federal government in spring 2026, officials revealed last week during the United Hospital Fund's annual Medicaid conference.
That's because the program — New York Health Equity Reform, or NYHER — is authorized under a Medicaid waiver that expires in March 2027.
State health officials said they will work to maintain services for health-related social needs under the renewed waiver, even though reduced federal funding is likely.
Those services are a pillar of the ongoing NYHER initiative.
Officials said they also envision a lasting role for the regional social care networks responsible for coordinating delivery of those services to eligible Medicaid enrollees.
Medicaid Director Amir Bassiri said the renewal application might shed the terminology around health equity, but the state's underlying goals and principles will remain the same.
In the meantime, the state's NYHER partners are under pressure to maximize the dollars at their disposal.
IN OTHER NEWS:
— State Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of states and the District of Columbia in filing a lawsuit Friday over the Trump administration's executive orders on gender-affirming care and resulting actions by the Department of Justice.
The attorneys general argued gender-affirming care is legally protected in all of their states and that federal attempts to block such care unlawfully undermine state sovereignty, according to their complaint.
— Keller Army Community Hospital at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point could lose inpatient care under a plan by President Donald Trump's administration to downsize military treatment facilities, according to Rep. Pat Ryan.
The Hudson Valley Democrat called on Defense Health Agency Acting Director David Smith to keep the hospital's inpatient unit open and fully staffed.
'This closure would be disastrous – downgrading Keller from a trusted community hospital, where patients can receive high-quality treatment for complex conditions and stay overnight, to little more than an urgent care,' Ryan wrote in a letter last week to Smith.
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What you may have missed
— A Department of Justice attorney asked a federal judge last week to delay approval of a settlement between the state and consumers in New York's consumer-directed personal assistance program, POLITICO Pro's Katelyn Cordero reported.
'The United States is still evaluating the proposed settlement, and we write respectfully to request that the court delay final approval of the settlement due to requirements of the Class Action Fairness Act,' Patrick Runkle, assistant director of the DOJ's Consumer Protection Branch, wrote in the filing.
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What We're Reading
— MAGA influencers take a sudden interest in Medicare Advantage reforms, echoing a dark money group. (STAT)
— Why drug prices for some big medicines will remain high for a longer time. (WSJ)
— White House has no plan to mandate IVF care, despite campaign pledge. (Washington Post)
Around POLITICO
— Senate passes first funding package ahead of shutdown cliff, Katherine Tully-McManus and Jordain Carney report.
— Via Victor Goury-Laffont and Claudia Chiappa: France, EU urged to prevent destruction of USAID contraceptives.
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