Healthcare policy was not the main focus of President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address, though the Jan. 30 speech did include mentions of lowering prescription drug prices, fighting opioid addiction and an endorsement of “right-to-try” legislation being considered by Congress.

The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate to have health insurance was repealed through the tax cut legislation signed into law late in 2017—but according to a new poll from Kaiser Family Foundation, most Americans either weren’t sure it was repealed or incorrectly believe it remains in place.

Less than two weeks after Kentucky became the first state approved to implement work requirements for its “able-bodied” Medicaid beneficiaries, a lawsuit has been filed against HHS and CMS alleging the plan is “an abuse” of the agencies’ regulatory powers.

The stopgap spending measure funding the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years while delaying taxes on medical devices and health insurance. 

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, is asking for an investigation into allegations that CMS Administrator Seema Verma, MPH, has violated her ethics agreement by being involved with Medicaid waivers submitted by states she once counted as clients for her consulting firm.

The opening of a “religious freedom” division within the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) could just be the beginning of moves by new officials within the department to align health policy with the goals of evangelical religious groups.

More than 40,000 people who work at HHS and its various subagencies have been told not to come to work until Congress passes some sort of legislation to fund the federal government, affecting everything from tracking the flu season to clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health.

Congress needs to reach some sort of spending deal by 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20, or else the federal government will partially shut down. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which hasn’t been reauthorized in months, was wrapped in talks over a short-term spending deal, and if funding isn’t renewed, states may have to end benefits for some of the nine million children it covers.