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National health expenditures will rise to nearly $9 trillion and comprise 20.6% of gross domestic product by 2034, according to a federal report released Wednesday. Spending is projected to have increased 7.3% to $5.7 trillion in 2025, which would mark the third consecutive year when the rate surpassed 7%, according to a study the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Centers Office of the Actuary published in the journal Health Affairs. The share of GDP committed to healthcare rose slightly to 18.4% last year, the actuaries project. The agency is slated to issue a final report on 2025 spending later this year. (Early, 6/24)

The three largest Medicare Advantage insurers turned down requests for post-hospital care at some of the highest rates among major plans, a federal watchdog has found. UnitedHealth Group, Humana and CVS Health, the parent company of Aetna, each denied many requests to move patients into long-term care hospitals or rehabilitation facilities after a hospital stay, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG). (Vohnoutka, 6/24)

The Maryland Department of Health is extending a temporary pause on new Medicaid enrollments for certain behavioral health providers as the state continues reviewing the provider network for potential fraud, waste and abuse. (Karpovich, 6/24)

A large children's healthcare provider is challenging the Florida agency overseeing Medicaid, claiming it incorrectly cut reimbursement rates, jeopardizing care for the children served by the group. (Rohrer, 6/24)

Seven years ago, Shawn Engman, a Minnesotan with developmental disabilities, moved from a group home into a facility run by a program called Family Residential Services (FRS), also known as Adult Foster Care. In these facilities, up to four residents live and receive care directly in their provider’s home. (Roth, 6/24)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Democrats To Propose Bill Capping Out-Of-Pocket Medicare Costs For Enrollees

Sen. Ron Wyden and 14 Democratic co-sponsors plan to introduce legislation Thursday to cap consumers’ potential out-of-pocket costs in traditional Medicare, resurfacing a long-running debate over why the program doesn’t limit beneficiary spending. Even the bill’s backers say securing passage this year is a long shot. But the effort is one more opportunity for Democrats to highlight voters’ frustration about healthcare costs leading into the November election. Polls show Americans are very concerned about affordability, with a recent Gallup survey finding fewer than half of Americans say they can consistently afford healthcare. (Appleby, 6/25)

Several dozen states could have to fork over millions of dollars to provide food aid to lower-income residents, if they don’t cut down on payment errors in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Nine states, meanwhile, won’t have to pay a penny toward SNAP benefits, because their error rates are so low that they won an exemption from a cost-sharing requirement included in a big tax-and-spending law signed by President Donald Trump. Data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides a first look at the winners — and potential losers — under the new law. (Lieb, 6/25)

HCA Healthcare has agreed to sell 31 home health and hospice locations in eight states to Deaconess Associations Incorporated. The deal is expected to close in a few months pending regulatory approval, said Deaconess CEO Trey Crabb in an interview Wednesday. Financial details were not disclosed. (Eastabrook, 6/24)

The St. Louis County Council on Wednesday approved spending $3 million on nurses and medical staff at the county jail and juvenile detention center. The vote came after weeks of back-and-forth between the council, County Executive Sam Page and health Director Dr. Kanika Cunningham over approving funds to keep 23 contract medical workers. (Landis, 6/24)

The healthcare system remains largely untouched by a historic Supreme Court ruling that undercut the power of federal agencies. The high court’s Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision in 2024 reversed a precedent known as “Chevron deference,” which for more than 40 years dictated that the judicial branch should yield to the executive branch when statutory language is ambiguous. (Early, 6/24)

Monica Carter, a nurse practitioner specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, appears on a TikTok screen, saying she is seeing so much “trich” in her clinic. Trichomonas is a sexually transmitted infection caused by a parasite, not a virus, she tells her 15,000 followers. “It is supercurable, and it’s rampant and common, and honestly, it’s not tested with routine testing. I am seeing it every day,” she exclaims on her post, which elicited more than 36,500 likes. (Goodman, 6/24)