In another setback for the Trump administration’s plan for the Medicaid program, a federal appeals court ruled last week that Arkansas cannot impose onerous work and reporting requirements on Medicaid recipients as a condition of receiving coverage. In its decision, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the administration’s claim that work requirements promote a primary objective of Medicaid.

A new article from Kaiser Health News (KHN), “What To Do If Your Home Health Care Agency Ditches You,” shines a light on confusion regarding recent changes to Medicare home health payments and beneficiary access to those services.

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court on Monday lifted a temporary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule. The policy may now take effect almost everywhere, even as litigation challenging the regulation continues in the lower courts.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to fast-track the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This decision not to expedite review comes after a federal appeals court last month agreed with a federal judge in Texas that the ACA’s individual mandate is unconstitutional, but declined to say how much of the law should fall as a result. Instead, the appeals court sent the case back to the Texas court to reconsider that question—a process that could take months if not years.

A new brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) examines how state decisions to forego the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion have impacted Americans’ access to coverage.

Yesterday, Medicare Rights Center President Fred Riccardi testified at a hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health titled “Legislation to Improve Americans’ Health Care Coverage and Outcomes.”

In the testimony, Medicare Rights urged Congress to pass the bipartisan, bicameral Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (H.R. 2477) without delay.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3). This landmark bill takes significant steps to rein in high and rising prescription drug prices and lower costs for people with Medicare, including authorizing Medicare to negotiate prices for certain drugs and capping beneficiary out-of-pocket drug spending at $2,000 per year.

Medicare’s Fall Open Enrollment Period (OEP) is a busy time for beneficiaries and those who help them evaluate their health care and prescription drug coverage options. From October 15 to December 7 each year, people with Medicare can make changes to their coverage, such as switching Part D prescription drug plans, or switching between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. This annual decision-making process can be complex, and several changes this year are making it even more so.

A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) underscores these challenges. According to the report, people with Original Medicare spent an average of $5,460 out of their own pockets for health care in 2016. Nearly half of this spending was for services outside of Medicare, such as LTSS (32%) and dental care (14%). The other half was largely devoted to meeting beneficiary cost-sharing obligations, including for provider-based care (22%) and prescription drugs (21%).

In recent weeks, several committees within the U.S. House of Representatives—Energy & Commerce, Education & Labor, and Ways & Means—have been working to finalize the House’s drug pricing bill, HR 3. While the bill advanced by each committee differs slightly, the underlying goals are unchanged from the version initially introduced.