Time Sensitive Opportunities & Resources; Latest Wrangling on the Hill

September 16, 2025

The Webinar listed directly below is scheduled for 9/18 (this Thursday).  If you are interested, register now!

9/18 WEBINAR ON PROTECTING PEOPLE WITH SUDS & FORMERLY INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS FROM LOSING MEDICAID COVERAGE

Recommendations on Implementing the H.R. 1 Work Reporting Requirements

This webinar will cover strategies that advocates and policymakers at the state and federal levels should employ to protect Medicaid coverage for people with substance use disorders (SUD) and formerly incarcerated individuals as the new work reporting requirements under H.R. 1 are implemented.

By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Identify opportunities to maximize exemptions from Medicaid work requirements, minimize burdens of complying with the new requirements, and advance inclusive policies that promote equitable access to lifesaving care.
  • Craft educational and advocacy strategies to advocate with policymakers to prevent coverage losses while ensuring compliance with the new law.
  • Apply the principles and framework to other populations to reduce Medicaid coverage losses, including people with HIV/AIDS.

Join Legal Action Center’s webinar

THIS THURSDAY, September 18, at 11:30 am EST.
SIGN UP FOR THE WEBINAR HERE!

This webinar is based on Legal Action Center’s recent publication Protecting People with Substance Use Disorders and Formerly Incarcerated Individuals from Losing Medicaid Coverage: Recommendations on Implementing the H.R. 1 Work Reporting Requirements.

All are invited to read this publication before or after the training and to share it widely!

 

We hope to see you Thursday, and in the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at jramos@lac.org.

 

Recent Healthcare Developments That Impact New York’s Existing 1115 Medicaid Waiver

Rockefeller Institute of Government , 9/16

Recent changes to federal health policy will result in federal funding reductions and coverage loss in New York State, as we’ve written about in our analyses of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace rule changes. These policy changes will also affect the State’s 1115 Medicaid waiver. In a new analysis, guest author Jillian Kirby Bronner details some of these impacts and highlights areas where there are opportunities to align the State’s waiver renewal (the waiver expires in 2027) with the federal government’s policy goals. 

Continue Reading…

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National Health Law Program (NHeLP, 9/16/25)

What We Know and What Happens Next: OBBBA and its Impact on Health Care Coverage is a new webinar series from the National Health Law Program. It helps advocates prepare for the harmful provisions in the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act by offering legal and policy analysis on key topics, including work requirements, due process, automation, and barriers to care like cost-sharing and attacks on sexual and reproductive health. Each webinar offers tools and strategies to support advocates in protecting coverage and advancing health equity.

Our next webinar is: The Role of Due Process – September 25, 2025 (Register Now)

  • OBBBA Overview and Implementation Timeline – Watch recording

  • How to Prepare for Work Requirements – Watch recording

  • How Automated Eligibility Systems Can Harm or Help Applicants and Enrollees – Watch recording

  • The Role of Due Process – September 25, 2025 (Register)

  • Access to Care: Cost Sharing, Premiums, and Retroactive Eligibility – October 9, 2025

  • The Impact on People with Disabilities – October 23, 2025

Visit NHeLP’s Post-OBBBA Resources Page

FPI Testifies to New York City Council on Impacts of the OBBBA

On Monday, FPI presented testimony to the New York City Council on the impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on food assistance and healthcare in New York.

 

 

Read the Full Testimony
 

Yesterday, two members of the Fiscal Policy Institute’s senior staff presented testimony to the New York City Council on the impacts of the federal legislation known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). 

Andrew Perry, Director of Fiscal Research, explained that the OBBBA will require New York State to cover an additional $1.4 billion in costs related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) as the federal government shifts these costs to the state. New York City itself will be responsible for an additional $100 million of new administrative costs. More concerning is the human impact: 174,000 individuals in New York City will immediately lose access to SNAP benefits and an additional 264,000 individuals will face arbitrary hurdles to enrollment under the pretense of imposing “work requirements.” The average monthly SNAP benefit is $232 per individual—its loss will push low-income households towards hunger and homelessness. 

Michael Kinnucan, Health Policy Director, explained how hundreds of thousands of New York City residents could lose their health insurance because of federal cuts to Medicaid and the Essential Plan. Medicaid and the Essential Plan provide health insurance for 3.5 million New York City residents—out of a total city population of 8.5 million. Kinnucan recommended that the City (1) invest in primary care to provide affordable treatment to all NYC residents, especially those who will become uninsured; (2) invest in the City’s Health + Hospitals system to bolster it in the face of impending funding losses; and (3) require a larger contribution from private hospitals to finance these programs. 

Read the Full Testimony
 

On the Hill 

We’ve got a showdown on the Hill with Senate Dems and House Republicans sparring over how to move forward with the federal budget making (such as it is).  Earlier today, House Republicans unveiled a bill to keep government and key healthcare programs running through Nov. 21, but declined to heed calls to address expiring tax credits for federal marketplace insurance plans.  Senate Dems are planning to introduce their own short term bill to keep the federal government open that is said to address several timely healthcare issues that are high priorities for the provider community, including extension of some key Medicare telehealth flexibilities, and the expiration of Essential Plan subsidies for certain populations that need financial assistance to obtain health insurance through state marketplaces.   

Telehealth, hospital-at-home waivers extended in House CR
By Simon J. Levien | 09/16/2025 03:45 PM EDT, Politico

House GOP leaders’ stopgap funding bill would extend eased Medicare telehealth and hospital-at-home rules through late November.

On Tuesday, the leaders released the continuing resolution, which they need to pass by the end of the month to avoid a partial government shutdown and expiration of the health care rules.

If the resolution becomes law, those rules would now expire on Nov. 21, setting up another deadline just seven weeks into the 2026 fiscal year.

The House is scheduled to vote on the resolution on Friday.

Kyle Zebley of the American Telemedicine Association, which represents telehealth providers, said he “welcomes and applauds” the inclusion of the telehealth rules — such as waived location restrictions and in-person visit requirements — which were first permitted at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic and Congress has now extended several times since.

The CR does include longer-term extensions in addition to its stopgap measures. For example, it would reauthorize the Food and Drug Administration’s Over-the-Counter Monograph Drug User Fee Program for five years.

The program allows the FDA to collect user fees from companies that make over-the-counter drugs, which in turn helps the agency hire staff to review applications in a timely manner.

Legislation to reup the FDA program sailed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee in July by a 51-0 vote, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee also unanimously advanced its version over the summer.

The CR would also extend a Medicare payment bump for low-volume hospitals — small and often rural hospitals that receive few patients.

The House measure would punt to November long-feared cuts to the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital program, which helps hospitals cover the uninsured and underinsured. Hospital groups sent a letter to GOP leaders in early September demanding the cuts, which could total $8 billion, be postponed.

Other programs for Medicare-dependent hospitals, add-on payments for ambulance services and several low-income health programs also would receive the short extension.

David Lim and Ruth Reader contributed.

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Senate Democrats to propose alternative to GOP stopgap (Politico Pro, 9/16 ppm)

Senate Democrats are preparing to offer an alternative stopgap spending bill that would avert an Oct. 1 government shutdown as they dig in against the Republican majority.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told reporters as he left a caucus lunch Tuesday that Democrats will offer a short-term spending bill that includes health care language as well as restrictions on President Donald Trump’s ability to rescind funding previously approved by Congress.

“We think we’re going to have … an alternative that American people will like a whole lot better,” Kaine said.

Another person granted anonymity to disclose private discussions confirmed the Democrats’ plan, adding that the proposal could be released as soon as Tuesday evening.

The idea of formally offering an alternative bill came up during the closed-door lunch and comes after top Democratic leaders have pushed for bipartisan negotiations without outlining what specific policy proposals they are seeking in return for their support for a weeks-long spending bill.

House Republicans rolled out a continuing resolution Tuesday that funds the government through Nov. 21, tacking on $30 million for lawmaker security and another $58 million in security assistance requested by the White House for the Supreme Court and executive branch.

But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries immediately panned the bill in a joint statement and vowed to oppose it, citing its lack of health care provisions.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who is line to be the No. 2 Senate Democrat starting in 2027, also said Tuesday he would be a “no” after helping advance a previous GOP-written stopgap in March.

He noted to reporters that Trump has said Republicans don’t have to “deal with the Democrats” on spending.

“Godspeed,” Schatz said.

Republicans will need at least seven Democrats to help advance their funding bill — and likely more, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) saying Tuesday that he will not support it. Only one Democrat so far, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, has publicly indicated he will vote for it.

Democrats appear increasingly confident Trump will be blamed for any potential shutdown after he said during a Friday Fox News interview that he doesn’t need Democratic votes. They also believe the political climate has moved in their favor since the March funding fight, based on their ability to recruit top Senate candidates and brewing divisions among Republicans over Trump’s efforts to circumvent Congress on spending cuts.

“It’s much different now,” Schumer told reporters. “The Republicans are in a much weaker position now than they were then.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune opened the door Tuesday to meeting with Schumer but said that the New York Democrat hadn’t called him or come to his office.

Schumer brushed off those comments, noting that he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have sent two letters to Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson requesting a meeting.

“Give me a break,” Schumer said. “We have asked to meet with Thune and Johnson for over six weeks.”