The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) alerted hospitals that the agency is planning a more systematic monitoring and enforcement approach to non-compliance with the Hospital Price Transparency requirements and, consistent with current policies, non-compliance will be addressed with swift enforcement. CMS posted a list of enforcement actions to date as well as a Hospital Price Transparency Enforcement Activities and Outcomes dataset with information related to enforcement actions taken by CMS.  All hospitals, including Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Emergency Hospitals, and hospital-based departments, which may include some Rural Health Clinics, are required to post their standard charges prominently on a publicly available website.

As President Trump seeks to purge the federal government of “woke” initiatives, agencies have flagged hundreds of words to limit or avoid, according to a compilation of government documents. Source: New York Times

All insurers offering plans on Pennie, Pennsylvania’s Health Insurance Exchange, now offer a PayNow feature. Customers can pay immediately at the conclusion of the enrollment process. This option for all plans was added in 2025. In addition, all plan Summary of Benefits documents are available in English and Spanish. With the uptick of enrollees reaching retirement age, Pennie has also added a new one-pager to the outreach toolkit to help retirees understand the enrollment process.

On March 10, CMS released a proposed rule ahead of the Federal Register on Health Insurance Marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act. The rule seeks to limit the Open Enrollment period for all exchanges to November 1 to December 15, require a $5 premium for enrollees who are auto-renewed into a zero-dollar premium plan, remove the option for auto-renews to move from Bronze to Silver plans and eliminate the low-income Special Enrollment Period for incomes at or below 150% of the federal poverty level. The Rule would also reduce the time for action of failure to reconcile from two years to one year, allowing insurers to require payments of past due premiums for prior coverage before new coverage can begin, and remove other insurer payment threshold flexibilities. Several changes would remove previous verification flexibilities to ease the enrollment process and rescind Qualified Health Plan eligibility for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. While Pennsylvanians have benefited from any of these provisions under the Affordable Care Act, Pennie, Pennsylvania’s Health Insurance Exchange Board, is reviewing the proposed changes and will provide a comment letter.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) recently announced the opening of a number of Pediatric Complex Care Resource Centers (PCCRCs) aimed at supporting families of children with complex medical needs, specifically those who receive pediatric shift care services. Pennsylvania began plans for the PCCRCs back in 2022 following recommendations of the Pediatric Shift Care Initiative, a multi-year, cross-stakeholder effort aimed at re-envisioning how pediatric home health care is delivered in Pennsylvania.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released a final recommendation statement on screening for food insecurity. The Task Force found limited evidence on how screening in primary care can help address food insecurity. To view the recommendation, the evidence on which it is based, a corresponding editorial, and a summary for clinicians, please go here.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) suggested on Sunday that no one “legitimately” on Medicaid will lose their coverage due to GOP efforts to cut spending. Read more.

State budget negotiators knew going into 2025 that a structural deficit, education needs, and Medicaid costs would create challenges, but now they may face them amid “a fundamental change in the compact that exists between the federal government and the states.” Those were state Budget Secretary Uri Monson’s words on Thursday for ongoing uncertainty about the future of billions of dollars for Pennsylvania tied to federal-state programs. Mr. Monson, who testified at a budget hearing, is the point man for Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed $51.5 billion state budget for 2025-26. Mr. Monson said that when the result of the apparent “historic” shift of the federal-state relationships becomes clear — a shift unlike any since the administration of President Lyndon Johnson — state leaders will need to figure out a path forward “that meets the needs of everyone in Pennsylvania.” Last month, Governor Shapiro unveiled his $51.4 billion budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025-26.

Pennsylvania has confirmed its first measles case of 2025, amid growing concerns about the disease’s resurgence. The disease poses particular risks, causing “immune paralysis” that can leave patients vulnerable to deadly complications for months. While there’s no immediate risk to the public, health officials emphasize the importance of maintaining high vaccination rates to prevent outbreaks in potentially vulnerable communities.

A growing number of states have made it easier for doctors who trained in other countries to get medical licenses, a shift supporters say could ease physician shortages in rural areas. Read more.