State News

Oregon established Medicare reference-based pricing for hospitals for its state employee health plans in 2017, and a 2021 audit found over $112 million in savings, reports NASHP. Payments for in-network and out-of-network services are not to exceed 200 and 185 percent of Medicare reimbursements, respectively; average reimbursements went from 215 percent of Medicare reimbursement amounts prior to the legislation’s enactment in 2017, to 163 percent in 2021.

North Carolina has become the 40th state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, according to The New York Times. This expansion will allow low-income residents to access free health insurance through the state’s Medicaid program, estimated to cover 600,000 people. The expansion will take effect once the state adopts a budget, which is expected by June.

A prescription drug transparency bill has been signed into law, requiring drug manufactures to disclose list prices of their medications in Wyoming, reports Wyoming News Now. The governor vetoed line items in the bill that would have required manufacturers to disclose the reasons for price increases and information on financial assistance for patients, citing too great a burden on small business pharmacies. Critics argue that this weakened version of the bill does not address the root causes of high drug prices and will not provide meaningful relief to consumers.

D.C. officials plan to cancel as much as $90 million in residents’ medical debt, reports The Washington Post. The District will use surplus funding to purchase debt on behalf of residents earning up to four times the federal poverty level or whose medical debt is great than five percent of their income. People of color in D.C. are three times as likely to hold medical debt as white residents, and of the 90,000 residents with medical debt, it is estimated that over 40,000 residents have debt in active collections, which can further exacerbate health disparities and the impacts of medical debt.

A report from several Illinois advocacy organizations outlines the harms of medical debt for Illinois families, particularly immigrant and Black communities, according to the Chicago Sun Times. The report includes personal stories from multiple affected residents, intended to illustrate the harms caused by hospitals charging low-income people for services when they should have been eligible for financial assistance, but were not screened.

New Mexico has initiated a study to explore a Medicaid buy-in program, according to Source New Mexico. Intended to expand access to affordable health care, House Bill 400 directs the Human Services Department to evaluate a plan to lift Medicaid’s income cap and allow residents above the current cap to purchase affordable coverage by paying premiums and income-based co-pays.

Connecticut is expanding affordable access to health coverage for personal care attendants (PCAs), according to the Office of Governor Greg Lamont. PCAs provide vital care for individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses, but many do not have access to affordable health insurance. Under the agreement between the state government, advocates for individuals with disabilities, and health insurance providers,
PCAs will be able to enroll in the state’s health insurance exchange and receive subsidies to help pay for their premiums. This will provide access to comprehensive health coverage for thousands of PCAs who currently lack insurance.

Massachusetts’ Center for Health Information and Analysis released its latest annual report on the state’s health spending, reports AboutHealthTransparency.org. Following a decrease in spending in 2020 due to the pandemic, health spending increased 9 percent in 2021. Pharmacy spending grew the fastest between 2019-2021, at an annualized rate of 7.5 percent. Additionally, among private commercial plans, enrollment in high deductible health plans increased by 4.1 percent, along with member cost-sharing growing 16.9 percent.

A new survey found that 83 percent of voters in Maine believe that all residents, regardless of immigration status, should have access to low-cost health care, reports the Beacon. The survey aims to measure the impacts the cost of health care and insurance have on residents’ ability to access needed care. Maine’s Medicaid program is available to people who are pregnant and those under age 21, regardless of immigration status, but does not provide coverage for other adults.