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.

The Republican tax cut plan, including a repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, has passed through Congress, giving the party a victory in its yearlong struggle to find consensus on legislation to substantially alter the ACA.

In October, the Trump administration had asked for public comments on how to reduce HHS regulations on religious and faith-based groups. Of the 12,302 comments received, the agency has only posted 80, which mostly back the administration’s efforts and attack Obama-era policies on abortion and treating transgender patients.