State lawmakers in Maryland have proposed an alternative means to encourage people to maintain health insurance following the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate through the Republican-supported tax cut legislation.

Former Eli Lilly executive Alex Azar faced another grilling before members of Congress, being questioned by the Senate Finance Committee, which will decide whether to advance his nomination to the full Senate. The hearing highlighted one major difference between Azar and former HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, when it came to mandatory payment models.

Extending the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) will cost the federal government $7.5 billion less than previously estimated because other options have become more expensive after the repeal of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. 

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released a proposed rule to expand the use of association health plans (AHPs), allowing more small businesses, trade organizations and individuals to buy health coverage as a group.

HHS has now posted more than 12,000 public comments on its request for information (RFI) to loosen the standards for exemptions to regulations for religious and faith-based groups after initially only posting 80 which most back the administration’s efforts.

For the first time, CMS has approved a 10-year extension of a Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration waiver allowing the state to provide family planning services to residents with incomes up to 194 percent of the federal poverty level.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers paid $1.3 billion less to Medicaid by receiving rebates on misclassified generic drugs, according to a report from the HHS’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

After previously saying she had secured a commitment to pass the legislation by the end of 2017, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said bills to fund the Affordable Care Act (ACA)'s cost-sharing reduction subsidies and provide $5 billion in reinsurance will be left out of a year-end spending package.