The Senate has joined the House in a pre-election recess. Both chambers will return to DC on November 13. Meanwhile, the administration has been very active in the health care sphere. During the past two weeks, the administration appointed a new head of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services; issued a proposed rule to require drug manufactures’ ads to disclose drug prices; issued a proposed rule to expand the use of “health reimbursement arrangements” so that employers can reimburse employees for the purchase of individual insurance plans; and announced new criteria for issuing innovation waivers, which will make it easier for states to approve the sale of insurance plans that are not as robust as those sold in the Exchanges. In addition, the Department of Education issued guidance on how schools should handle situations in which a child with a disability is bullied, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services is seeking nominations for the Family Caregiving Advisory Council.
REMEMBER: The 6th annual open-enrollment period for people to select insurance plans begins on Thursday, November 1, and ends on Saturday, December 15. Please see the end of this Update for resources. The TRICARE open season runs from November 12 through December 10. The Medicare open season runs from October 15 through December 7.
October is Health Literacy Month. Learn more about what organizations, communities, and individuals can do to help improve health literacy by visiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Health Literacy webpage.
Encourage confidence to act