RISE summarizes recent regulatory-related headlines and reports.
Former CDC officials to testify about their departures at Senate hearing
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. ET to hear testimony from Susan Monarez, Ph.D., who briefly served as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Debra Houry, M.D., the former chief medical officer and deputy director for program and science at the CDC.
Monarez served as CDC director for 29 days and was fired by the White House after refusing to resign allegedly in the wake of a disagreement with Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy and Monarez offer different versions of the termination. Dr. Houry, along with other CDC officials, resigned in protest following her departure.
Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), chair of the HELP Committee, scheduled the hearing to review the recent events at the CDC and its implications for children’s health. He said the committee is also planning to invite current officials at the HHS to respond by speaking with committee members at a future hearing.
“Children’s health must be the top priority,” said Cassidy in an announcement. “To protect children’s health, Americans need to know what has happened and is happening at the CDC. They need to be reassured that their child’s health is given priority. Radical transparency is the only way to do that.”
Survey: Democrats, Republicans disapprove of Medicare, Medicaid cuts
Most Americans disapprove of cuts to federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, including a majority of both Democratic and Republican voters, according to a survey conducted by Northeastern University.
Conducted from April to June by Northeastern's Civic Health and Institutions Project (CHIP50), the survey of more than 33,000 adults across the country finds that 68 percent of Americans disapprove of cuts to Medicaid and 76 percent disapprove of cuts to Medicare.
Broken down by political affiliation, 86 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans disapprove of cuts to Medicare, and 82 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of Republicans disapprove of cuts to Medicaid.
Other key takeaways:
- For Medicare, 83 percent of those aged 55 to 64 and 89 percent of those 65 and older disapprove of cuts.
- Among households with income under 50k, over 70 percent disapprove of cutting Medicaid.
- Individuals with lower levels of formal education disproportionately express strong objections to reductions in both programs.
Census bureau report: 310M Americans had health insurance in 2024
The U.S. Census Bureau this week released its annual report on insurance coverage. Each year the bureau asks people about their health insurance coverage during the previous calendar year. People are considered insured if they were covered by any type of health insurance for part or all of the previous calendar year. People are considered uninsured if, for the entire year, they were not covered by any type of insurance.
Among the findings:
- In 2024, most people (92 percent or 310 million) had health insurance for some or all of the year.
- In 2024, private health insurance coverage (66 percent) was more prevalent than public coverage (35.5 percent)
- Employment-based insurance was the most common, covering 53.8 percent of the population for some or all of the calendar year, followed by Medicare (19 percent), Medicaid (17.6 percent), direct-purchase coverage (10.7 percent), TRICARE (2.8 percent), and VA and CHAMPVA coverage (1.2 percent).
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CMS issues Medicaid state directed payments guidance
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued preliminary guidance for states on the new federal payment limits for state directed payments in Medicated managed care. CMS said the guidance is meant to give states time to meet requirements while the agency works on a final rule. The guidance provides information on the reduced payment, details on eligibility for a temporary grandfather period, and additional next steps.
Under Medicaid managed care, states can direct how managed care plans pay providers through state directed payments. Currently 39 states use them and CMS projects that annual spending would exceed $124.3 billion for FY 2025 and $144.6 billion for FY 2026.
“By implementing safeguards required in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, CMS is helping states continue to use state directed payments as a tool, while ensuring they are sustainable, transparent, and fully aligned with our mission to protect beneficiaries and preserve Medicaid for future generations, said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz in the announcement.