The legislation to keep the federal government running past Thursday, Feb. 8, includes many provisions related to healthcare, including adjustments to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and delaying Medicare cuts to hospitals while cutting billions from the Affordable Care Act’s Prevention and Public Health Fund.

While not all models developed and tested through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) were successful, each provided valuable lessons for future experiments in care delivery and payment from both government and private payers, according to an article published by Health Affairs.

In a proxy statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Louisville, Kentucky-based Kindred Healthcare urged its shareholders to follow the recommendation of Kindred board members and vote yes on the proposed $4.1 billion sale of the company to insurer Humana and two private equity firms.

A legislative committee in California is hearing proposals about how to achieve the goal of universal healthcare in the state, with advocates looking for inspiration in Canadian, British and German models.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said there’s an “urgent” need for Congress to fund additional reinsurance for companies offering coverage on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), saying with the individual mandate gone beginning in 2019, some action is required to keep premiums from increasing as insurers try to manage a sicker risk pool.

Work requirements have been added to Indiana’s Medicaid program, making it the second state to mandate participation in “community engagement” activities since CMS issued guidelines to states on including those provisions in Section 1115 Medicaid waivers.

The priorities for Republicans in Congress this year don’t appear to include another attempt at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), though some are publicly urging the party to take another shot after several failed attempts in 2017.

The $69 billion proposed acquisition of Aetna by CVS Health remains under review by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which requested the companies provide more information on their merger agreement.