Jeff Grant, the former deputy director for operations of the CMS division that oversees Obamacare and other programs, left Friday after a 41-year career in the federal government. He described an agency in wreckage after Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency swept through HHS and fired thousands of workers it deemed unfit for the agency's needs or inadequate to perform their job's duties.
Wellvana has acquired CVS Accountable Care, CVS Health's Medicare shared savings program in an all-stock transaction that gives CVS Health a strategic minority investment in Wellvana. The MSSP operates in 40 states and serves approximately 1 million Medicare patients.
Nearly 630,000 people have gained coverage since the Medicaid expansion took effect in North Carolina, surpassing state health officials' initial two-year enrollment projection months ahead of schedule. The measure has been particularly popular in rural areas, where residents are less likely to have health insurance and access to care is often limited. But the success of expansion could be undone overnight if Republicans in Washington move forward with a plan to slash federal funding for Medicaid.
Healthcare may not feature prominently in President Trump's address to Congress tonight, but whatever he says about Medicaid will be closely parsed. Trump has said he would "love and cherish" the safety net program, but it still could be in the crosshairs as Congress looks for ways to pay for an extension of the president's 2017 tax cuts. Broader themes such as competition with China and Trump's plan for tariffs could include a nod to his recent push for pharma to reshore production in the U.S. and reduce reliance on foreign producers. An executive order on hospital price transparency could also make the final speech. But the question may be what's left unsaid about federal health programs. The House adopted a budget blueprint that calls for cutting $2 trillion in spending, and that opens the door to hundreds of billions coming from Medicaid.
The healthcare industry is at a breaking point. Patients — health plan customers — feel unheard, undervalued, and exploited. In the current model, the shareholders always win. Insurance companies report record-breaking profits year after year — in 2023, UnitedHealth raked in $32.4 billion; CVS Health (Aetna): $8.4 billion; Cigna: $5.4 billion; Elevance Health (formerly Anthem): $6 billion. Meanwhile, their members often skip care or forgo other essential expenses like food to afford lifesaving treatments. It's no wonder there's widespread outrage.
The former top executive at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan saw a pay cut in his final year before retirement as the health insurance company experienced its biggest underwriting loss in at least a decade. Daniel Loepp, 67, who retired as Blue Cross' CEO on Dec. 31, received all-cash compensation of $13.9 million last year, or about $1.85 million less than 2023, the insurer announced Monday.