The Trump administration is defending a Biden-era decision to reject drug manufacturer plans that would allow them to discount medicines through a rebate rather than up front under a federal drug discount program. HRSA on Monday doubled down on its argument that implementing a rebate model is inconsistent with the 340B statute and requires approval from the HHS secretary. The agency, however, signaled that it could be open to further consideration of the plan.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center announced changes to its model portfolio. The Primary Care First and the Making Care Primary models, running through 2026 and 2034 respectively, will now end early on Dec. 31, 2025. Additionally, CMS may reduce the size of the Integrated Care for Kids model and will no longer move forward with the Medicare $2 Drug List and the Accelerating Clinical Evidence Model. Participants involved in these models should expect follow-up communications from CMS on the close-out process. This does not impact the Aledade ACO.

Senate Republican leaders have asked the Trump administration to rescind an 1115 Medicaid waiver that would expand social services for vulnerable populations, including low-income families, chronically homeless individuals, and people being released from incarceration. Republicans believe the added services in the waivers — approved last year under the Biden administration, but not yet implemented — will balloon Pennsylvania’s Medicaid costs. In response, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has scaled back implementation plans.

US Senators worked down to the wire to avoid a midnight funding lapse in Washington DC last week. Despite widespread Democratic criticism of the House’s six month “Continuing Resolution” (CR), a number of Democrats joined their Republican colleagues and voted to pass the legislation. The CR provides both mandatory and discretionary funding at the FY24 levels for Section 330, the National Health Service Corps, and Teaching Health Centers, through Sept. 30, 2025.

The PBDA is hosting two webinars in anticipation of opening the second round of the Digital Connectivity Technology Program (DCTP). Each webinar will provide an overview of the program, review FAQs, and will implement breakout sessions focusing on libraries, non-profits, workforce, and education. Each breakout session will include an awardee from Round One of the program who will provide background on their project and will highlight the key elements that contributed to their success.

You can find additional details for each webinar, including registration, by clicking the links below. Please note that content covered at each session will be the same, however, questions and dialogue may differ. PBDA will be recording these sessions to post as resources on our website.

• Tuesday, March 25, 2025
• Wednesday, April 2, 2025

The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) just opened a new application period for Grow PA scholarship grants. This program helps in-state students pay for school and builds the workforce in Pennsylvania for in-demand occupations. The Grow PA Grant Program provides grants with a maximum award $5,000 per year and students can receive funds for a maximum of four academic years. After graduation, students must commit to live and work in Pennsylvania, within an in-demand occupation, for a number of years equal to the number of years in which they received the grant. These student grants are for the 2025-26 academic year and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Click here for more information.

Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that want to begin participating in the Medicare Shared Saving Program starting January 1, 2026, must apply between May 29 and June 12 at noon Eastern.  The Shared Savings Program is a voluntary program that encourages groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers to come together as an ACO to give coordinated, high-quality care to Medicare beneficiaries. After submitting an application, new ACOs that serve rural areas may be eligible for Advanced Investment Payments, upfront funds to build infrastructure and address beneficiary needs.

Last week, the Innovation Center at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (also known as CMMI) announced they are terminating four models early to align with its statutory obligation and strategic goals. Innovation Center Models are intended to be time-limited experiments to determine what approaches should be expanded nationwide, what components need further testing, and what approaches are not viable for expansion. The models ending early are Primary Care First, Making Care Primary, ESRD Treatment Choices (ETC), and Maryland Total Cost of Care. Termination of the ETC model will be proposed through rulemaking.  Subject to discussions with State authorities, Maryland will transition to the AHEAD model and begin its implementation period in January 2026.