In This Issue:

• Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
• Other HHS and Federal Regulatory Initiatives
• Other Congressional and State Initiatives
• Other Health Care News
• Hearings & Mark-ups Scheduled

Excerpt from Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

On February 13th the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it was awarding $9.1 million in funding to medical students under the ACA’s Students to Service program. The program provides loan repayment assistance to medical students who agree to specialize in primary care and to work in health professional shortage areas.

On February 15th HHS announced that, because of ACA rules, at least 54 million Americans in private health plans and 32 million in Medicare received at least one free preventive service in 2011.

On February 16th HHS released the forms that insurance companies will be required to use to calculate and report their annual medical loss ratios (MLRs). This information will be used to inform consumers about how insurance companies spend premium dollars and to calculate the rebates that insurance companies who do not comply with MLR rules must pay to beneficiaries. HHS attributes the increased recovery to the efforts of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team, created by the Administration in 2009.

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