Healthcare Affordability

Federal affordability policy is tightening around Medicaid and Medicare: a Senate Budget Committee hearing kept pressure on One Big Beautiful Bill Act Medicaid provisions, with conservative lawmakers arguing federal cuts and work requirements can streamline spending while providers and states face coverage-loss and uncompensated-care risk—especially for rural and homeless populations (HFMA). For VBC organizations, the immediate concern is attribution and risk-pool disruption as Medicaid eligibility churn, ACA marketplace morbidity reportedly worsens, and Medicare Advantage plans like Clover Health lean on membership growth and Star Ratings to improve outlooks—raising the stakes for population health infrastructure, risk adjustment, and retention. CMS also released the FY 2026 IPPS final rule, while scrutiny of Medicare drug price-negotiation timing signals continued affordability pressure across hospital payment, Part D economics, and total-cost-of-care models.