Nonpartisan advocacy group United States of Care is offering an olive branch to Congressional Republicans with a new "Red State Affordability Cohort," which will serve as a working group of six conservative-leaning states, including Arizona, for...White Papers, E books, Reports and more
Late last year, uncertainty about the expiration of enhanced premium tax cut subsidies and changes to eligibility exacerbated market fears for ACA enrollment in 2026. Four months into the year, Wakely Consulting Group published a report forecasting reductions in enrollment and consequences for the risk pool as insurers develop their 2027...
Amazon is expanding into obesity care with a new GLP 1 management program through Amazon One Medical, integrating primary care, pharmacy and virtual services into a single offering.
The program is designed to address fragmented weight loss treatment by embedding GLP 1 prescribing and monitoring within a patient’s broader primary care...
In this April 2026 Milliman white paper, analysts report that rising costs in traditional Medicare are outpacing federal projections, creating new financial pressure for accountable care organizations whose benchmarks rely on those estimates.
The new analysis finds recent Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) cost trends have exceeded CMS...
Left with few places to cut federal spending, the Trump administration has set its sights on home- and community-based services, which officials accuse of being rife with "waste, fraud and abuse."
Home- and community-based services (HCBS) provide for the daily care and activity of elderly people or people with disabilities who are...National News
Medicare Advantage is entering a more contested phase, with federal scrutiny intensifying, insurers pulling back from markets and plans moving to stabilize provider relationships as payment policy shifts. That tension has direct implications in Arizona.
Meanwhile, this week, at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing April 21,...CMS Rules
As insurance companies raise flags about the cost of GLP-1 weight loss drugs in coordination with government payer programs, the Trump administration has rescinded its plan to have insurance companies fund coverage of the obesity drugs and will have Medicare pay the cost instead.
Last year, the White House announced a landmark deal...National News
As drug prices continue to rise and seniors struggle to keep up with inflated costs, a new Senate bill seeks to change the way Medicare Part D plans cover cheaper options.
Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) introduced the Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act, which would require Part D...Arizona News
The City of Phoenix is considering an ordinance that would inhibit nonprofits and support services from providing food or medical care to homeless people in city parks. Advocates vociferously oppose the potential measure, stressing that unhoused people could die if they lose access to these critical services.
The draft ordinance under...News
As Arizona continues to align Medicaid and Medicare for dual-eligible members, new research is sharpening focus on how those integrated plans are paid. About 130,000 duals are enrolled in nine plans across the state, with UnitedHealthcare’s Dual Complete accounting for roughly half of that enrollment, according to April CMS...White Papers, E books, Reports and more
One in five American children has a chronic health condition, with even higher rates among those enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The trend raises questions about how to address underlying systemic drivers and whether value-based care models can help improve outcomes for children and youth.
The...Arizona News
Under severe public scrutiny, health insurers have scaled back the use of prior authorization by 11% since 2024. Meanwhile, the new WISeR model faces struggles, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) appears set on applying the practice to the Medicare program.
The Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction Program...Arizona News
A bill in the Arizona State Legislature that would allow patients from across the state to be admitted to the Arizona State Hospital for psychiatric care regardless of their county of residence could still pass through the legislative process.
The bill, Senate Bill 1813, is sponsored by Senator David Gowan (R-Sierra Vista) and would...National News
The Trump administration is continuing its push towards electronic health record adoption and centralization through a new "Kill the Clipboard" initiative that pledges to streamline data sharing through biometric security and QR codes.
The "Kill the Clipboard" initiative is headed by Amy Gleason, a U.S. DOGE Service appointee and...National News
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its proposal for the 2027 Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System. The rules contain a proposed 2.4% rate increase for inpatient services and a nationwide test of an episode-based payment...National News
A new proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) targets prior authorization (PA) of pharmacy benefits by shortening the turnaround deadline for certain requests and requiring the disclosure of denial rates.
The regulation would require Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) insurers and...Arizona News
A new analysis from the Urban Institute, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, finds that recently enacted federal Medicaid policy changes could significantly reduce coverage, with Arizona facing substantial enrollment losses depending on how the state implements the law.
The report examines the impact of work requirements and...Arizona News
If you’re trying to understand how corporatization is reshaping healthcare in your state, particularly in fast-consolidating markets like Arizona, a new brief from the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms lays out a practical roadmap.
The report is designed as a step-by-step guide for policymakers and market...News
A new issue brief from the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, and the National Association of Long-Term Hospitals reports mounting financial and access pressures for long-term care hospitals, with researchers concluding that recent Medicare payment policies have contributed to declining capacity and...Arizona News
The new AHCCCS Solutions Center is a centralized platform designed to make it easier for providers and their staff to connect with AHCCCS and submit requests. The agency scheduled several April webinars to introduce users to the new platform.
Arizona's Medicaid agency, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, is hosting a...
The Trump administration's 2027 budget proposal requests $111.1 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Health and Human Services, slashing the department's budget in exchange for extended tax cuts and spending hikes for the military and immigration enforcement.
The vision outlined in the budget proposal is one of high...
A coalition of over 130 hospitals has filed suit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over methodology used to calculate risk payments to hospitals that treat a higher number of Medicare patients.
As it stands now, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates the number of low-income patients served by...White Papers, E books, Reports and more
The report finds that more than 14 million seniors rely on Medigap to fill gaps in fee-for-service Medicare, which does not cap out-of-pocket spending and requires cost sharing for hospital and physician services. Enrollment in Medigap has grown steadily in recent years, with 43% of fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries purchasing...Arizona Comings & Goings
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, traveled to Arizona this week as part of his national “Take Back Your Health” tour, meeting with healthcare, recovery, and community leaders to promote a prevention-focused approach to care.
The visit included stops across the state, from...Arizona News
Kennedy visited Banner Health on Tuesday to review the system’s prevention and early detection programs, including mobile screening initiatives aimed at expanding access to care across Arizona.
During a stop at Banner’s Sports Medicine High Performance Center, Kennedy toured the system’s BIG Pink Bus mobile mammography unit and...
CMS Rules
