Healthcare Happy Hour

On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NAHU Vice President of Congressional Affairs John Greene and NAHU HUPAC Manager Nathan Makla discuss the midterm elections and how control of the Senate and House has still yet to be determined. They also review the key Senate races which will determine which party holds the chamber in the 118th Congress and what we may expect during the lame duck session.

On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NAHU Vice President of Congressional Affairs John Greene and NAHU HUPAC Manager Nathan Makla provide a preview of next week’s midterm election discussing the key races that will determine Senate and House party control.

As we are all aware of by now, HHS released the final rule to fix the ACA’s family glitch earlier this month. On the October 14 edition of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NAHU’s Marcy M. Buckner discussed the regulation in detail. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Marcy is back to provide some more information on the final rule after discussions with CCIIO.

CMS released FAQs on Wednesday regarding the Medicare Marketing Rule, providing official written clarification on several questions that NAHU and our members have posed to the agency over the last several months. Additionally, NAHU’s John Greene hosted a panel at Better Medicare Alliance’s 2022 National Medicare Advantage Summit earlier this week. To discuss this and more, on this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, is NAHU Vice President of Congressional Affairs John Greene.

HHS officially released the final rule on the ACA family glitch earlier this week. That’s right, the family glitch final rule is finally here! On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Marcy M. Buckner discusses the family glitch, the proposed rule and what, if anything, has changed since its finalization, NAHU’s opinion on the regulation, and where we go from here.

HHS released a proposed rule at the end of July that would make significant revisions to Section 1557 of the ACA – a section of the law that deals with nondiscrimination. NAHU submitted comments in response to the proposed rule this week outlining what we support and where we have concerns. Here to discuss our letter, on this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, is Marcy M. Buckner!

NAHU submitted a comment letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners this week regarding proposed changes to the NAIC’s Unfair Trade Practices Model Act, a law that regulates each state's insurance industry. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Marcy M. Buckner discusses the NAIC’s proposed amendments as well as the questions and concerns we submitted to the association.

How much do you know about the National Association of Health Underwriters Political Action Committee, or HUPAC? On last week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NAHU vice presidents of congressional affairs Chris Hartmann and John Greene discussed the last few primary elections of the season. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, we are joined once again by Chris Hartmann, but we are also joined by HUPAC Manager Nathan Makla, making his podcast debut! The two provide a broad overview of this year’s primaries and HUPAC’s role in elections past, present, and future.

NAHU received some answers from CMS regarding questions we posed in a recent letter to the agency’s marketing division regarding the Medicare marketing final rule that is set to be implemented on October 1. This week also saw a new bill introduced on a very important Medicare issue, as well as the last primary elections of the season before we head into November. To discuss all of this and more, on this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, are NAHU Vice Presidents of Congressional Affairs Chris Hartmann and John Greene.

On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Marcy M. Buckner touches upon a few topics: a recent district court ruling out of Texas saying that the ACA preventive care mandate violates religious freedoms, a new letter that NAHU has sent to CMS regarding the new Medicare marketing rule, and a new request for information from the agency.

NAHU responded to a request for information from CMS this week regarding the Medicare Advantage program. Specifically, CMS is seeking comments on how the agency can strengthen Medicare Advantage in ways that align with CMS’ strategic plan. We submitted two responses to this RFI – one earlier this month focused solely on the new Medicare marketing rule and one focused on other aspects of Medicare and Medicare Advantage. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Marcy M. Buckner talks about our responses and how youcan help us delay implementation of the marketing rule!

The Biden administration issued a new final rule regarding the implementation of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 – specifically the law’s surprise-billing ban, as well as certain transparency provisions. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which passed almost two years ago now, banned the practice of balance billing and put into place consumer protections so that patients are no longer saddled with a surprise bill. However, the implementation of this law and specifically the independent dispute resolution process that deals with out-of-network bills, has been subject to scrutiny and provider-backed lawsuits. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Marcy M. Buckner discusses the new rule and what it means moving forward.

The president signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into law earlier this week. We covered the relevant provisions of this new law on last week’s edition of the Healthcare Happy Hour, so if you are interested in learning more about the healthcare components included in that package, please listen to last week’s episode! On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, we are joined by special guest Heather Meade, principal at Washington Council Ernest and Young and adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, to raise a topic that we have yet to discuss on the podcast – site-neutral payment reform.

After over a year of deliberation, Senate Democrats’ reconciliation bill – now titled the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 – passed the Senate last weekend 51-50, with every Democrat on board and Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tiebreaking vote. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NAHU lobbyists John Greene and Chris Hartmann are here to discuss the version of the bill that passed the Senate (and is now being considered by the House), how NAHU was successful in ensuring a number of harmful provisions did not make it into that last version, and where we go from here.

We are now less than 100 days until the 2022 midterm elections in November. With every House seat contested and some key Senate seats contested, this year’s midterms are as important as ever. In June we discussed a host of primary elections that helped shape what November’s elections will look like. This week, there were more primaries across six states. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NAHU’s Marcy Buckner and Chris Hartmann are here to break down the most competitive primary results and provide an overview of what could happen come November.

There is a new legal challenge to the ACA in Texas. No, you’re not having déjà vu – there is another legal challenge coming out of Texas, specifically challenging the ACA’s preventative care mandate. HHS also released a proposed rule this week that would revise Section 1557 of the ACA – the nondiscrimination portion of the healthcare law. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NAHU’s Marcy M. Buckner is back to discuss these legal and regulatory developments.

The Build Back Better Act, the reconciliation package that Democrats have been trying to piece together for the better part of a year, may finally have legs – and may end up containing only a few, specific healthcare provisions, both of which are relevant to NAHU. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NAHU Vice Presidents of Congressional Affairs Chris Hartmann and John Greene are back on the pod to discuss the most recent developments in Build Back Better and its new possibility of passage.

The House will begin its annual August Recess on August 1, with the Senate joining them one week later on August 8. Throughout the month of August, members of Congress are back in their home states and districts. That makes August the perfect time to schedule a meeting with your legislator! On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NAHU lobbyists John Greene and Chris Hartmann discuss August recess appointments and our Summer 2022 talking points that will assist you in those meetings.

We hope everyone had an excellent Fourth of July weekend, and we hope all those who attended NAHU’s Annual Convention enjoyed themselves! On June 24, the Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, effectively overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey’s previously established constitutional right to abortion access. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, Marcy M. Buckner discusses the implications of the Dobbs decision on ERISA, employee benefits, state laws and more.

It’s almost time for NAHU’s Annual Convention! But, before we see your bright smiling faces in Austin, there is some regulatory news to discuss! This week, NAHU submitted comments to CMS in response to a proposed rule released in April that makes policy changes to the Medicare enrollment process, among other important changes. On this week’s episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, NAHU’s John Greene discusses our comment letter to the administration. Additionally, we discuss how you can complete your Medicare Advantage training with NAHU.