Two recent events provided insight into federal priorities in Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces. On March 9, Congress passed and the President signed a “minibus” funding bill, funding about half of the government agencies for fiscal year (FY) 2024 and deferring action until March 22 for remaining agencies. And on March 11, the White House released the President’s Budget for FY 2025, articulating the Biden administration’s healthcare policy priorities for the upcoming year. This expert perspective reviews the healthcare policies and programs recently funded by Congress for FY 2024 as well as the Biden administration’s stated healthcare priorities for FY 2025.

State updates as of March 15, 2024.

State updates as of March 8, 2024.

State updates as of March 1, 2024.

State updates as of February 23, 2024.

State updates as of February 16, 2024.

State updates as of February 9, 2024.

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, which houses the Massachusetts Medicaid program, convened two technical advisory groups to create a health equity data and accountability infrastructure for the state. This expert perspective highlights the work undertaken to develop a voluntary, aligned approach for collecting self-reported demographic data and the creation of a framework for introducing accountability in value-based contracts for four categories of health equity measures.

State updates as of February 2, 2024.

In late 2022, Congress enacted section 5112 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA), requiring states to provide children under age 19 determined eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) with 12 months of continuous enrollment (CE) effective January 1, 2024. To support states in implementing CE, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued sub-regulatory guidance expanding on the CAA’s new requirement. This Q&A is intended to serve as an added resource for states as they newly take up CE for children or modify existing CE policies to meet the CAA requirement. As noted, some issues remain open pending further CMS guidance.