Health Policy News October
Hello readers! The Health Policy News team is excited to launch our 2023 fall article series: “Focus on Caregiving.” Our first article features an overview of a recent Executive Order on caregiving. The second article for this edition provides an update on rules around use of telemedicine for prescribing controlled substances. You can read our previous publication concerning this issue here. Finally, we provide insights from this month’s National Association of Medicaid Directors Conference.
Tune in next month for the second article in our Focus on Caregiving Series!
Examining the Role of Caregivers: Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers
This month, PCG is launching a Fall 2023 Focus on Caregiving Series. We start the series by providing information on a landmark step by the White House with the sharing of an Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers (the Executive Order), which was signed on April 18, 2023. The Executive Order aimed at bolstering support for caregivers and expanding access to quality care across the states, and provides innovative avenues for states to expand programs that aid caregivers providing child-care and or long-term care for the elderly or disabled. Read more about the top takeaways from the Executive Order, click here.
The Drug Enforcement Agency and Department of Health and Human Services Extend COVID-era Telemedicine Prescribing Flexibilities through 2024
Earlier this month, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Department Health and Human Services published a second temporary rule that further extends COVID-era telemedicine flexibilities for prescribing controlled substances through December 2024. The agencies took this action in response to the nearly 40,000 comments it received on a proposed rule that would have ended the flexibility following the end of the COVID Public Health Emergency. Health Policy News has followed this topic closely and is excited to continue to update readers regarding developments on rulemaking. To read about the recent development, click here.
PCG Recap of the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) Conference: Connecting States and Policy Leaders to Discuss the Unwinding and Future Goals for State Medicaid Programs
In early October, the NAMD conference brought Medicaid Directors, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) leadership, state policy makers and industry professionals together to learn from one another, and share lessons learned – in particular, around the end of the continuous coverage requirement and unprecedented Medicaid re-eligibility effort underway. PCG SME’s have included insights and perspective on the main topics of this year’s conference- unwinding the Continuous Coverage Requirement- and a topic many states are looking to early innovators for guidance on–Medicaid’s changing role in the reentry process- to read more, click here.
