Christine H. Monahan
@christinemonahan.bsky.social
Assistant Research Professor, Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy's Center on Health Insurance Reforms
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
Every step taken by this administration makes insurance access harder
Congress and the Administration Are Weaponizing Paperwork to Discourage Enrollment in Marketplace Insurance www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2025/co... by @jalisahealth.bsky.social @christinemonahan.bsky.social @commonwealthfund.org
Congress and the Administration Are Weaponizing Paperwork to Discourage Enrollment in Marketplace Insurance www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2025/co... by @jalisahealth.bsky.social @christinemonahan.bsky.social @commonwealthfund.org
Congress and the Administration Are Weaponizing Paperwork to Discourage Enrollment in Marketplace Insurance
Millions will lose health insurance because of new regulations, with losses driven by intentional inefficiencies, additional steps, and administrative burdens.
www.commonwealthfund.org
September 9, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Every step taken by this administration makes insurance access harder
Congress and the Administration Are Weaponizing Paperwork to Discourage Enrollment in Marketplace Insurance www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2025/co... by @jalisahealth.bsky.social @christinemonahan.bsky.social @commonwealthfund.org
Congress and the Administration Are Weaponizing Paperwork to Discourage Enrollment in Marketplace Insurance www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2025/co... by @jalisahealth.bsky.social @christinemonahan.bsky.social @commonwealthfund.org
I recently spoke with NBC10 Philadelphia reporter Tracy Davidson, investigating why more patients are seeing unexpected increases on their medical bills, often due to outpatient #facilityfees.
🎥 Watch the full NBC10 segment here: www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video/invest...
🎥 Watch the full NBC10 segment here: www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video/invest...
Why more patients are paying for facility fees
What’s the cost of your health? More patients say they’re being surprised by a charge they have to pay after their visits. Facility fee charges have increased 531% from 2004 to 2021, according to the ...
www.nbcphiladelphia.com
August 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
I recently spoke with NBC10 Philadelphia reporter Tracy Davidson, investigating why more patients are seeing unexpected increases on their medical bills, often due to outpatient #facilityfees.
🎥 Watch the full NBC10 segment here: www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video/invest...
🎥 Watch the full NBC10 segment here: www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video/invest...
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
One of the most urgent questions, if this bill passes, is how states can minimize the damage (coverage losses) from these policies.
The venn diagram of answers to that question and answers to "how will system vendors try to extract as much profit as possible?" is going to have a lot of overlap.
The venn diagram of answers to that question and answers to "how will system vendors try to extract as much profit as possible?" is going to have a lot of overlap.
July 3, 2025 at 11:41 AM
One of the most urgent questions, if this bill passes, is how states can minimize the damage (coverage losses) from these policies.
The venn diagram of answers to that question and answers to "how will system vendors try to extract as much profit as possible?" is going to have a lot of overlap.
The venn diagram of answers to that question and answers to "how will system vendors try to extract as much profit as possible?" is going to have a lot of overlap.
My team and I spend a lot of time thinking about how the private health insurance system works (and doesn't) for individuals with #diabetes who depend on #insulin.
To say the least, #OBBBA is scary.
This population will jump thru hoops to stay insured. That doesn't mean they won't get hurt.
To say the least, #OBBBA is scary.
This population will jump thru hoops to stay insured. That doesn't mean they won't get hurt.
June 30, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
Reminder that the median Medicaid eligibility level for pregnancy is over 2x the poverty level. Many of these people Mullin is referring to are pregnant or are children. www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...
Markwayne Mullin: "There are 35 million people that live below the poverty line inside the US. There are over 70 million people signed up for Medicaid. Now you're gonna tell me there's not room to make cuts?"
June 30, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Reminder that the median Medicaid eligibility level for pregnancy is over 2x the poverty level. Many of these people Mullin is referring to are pregnant or are children. www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
Republicans' monster bill is designed to make people self-deport from Medicaid and Obamacare.
That creates a talking point (also not true): No one is losing eligibility!
That creates a talking point (also not true): No one is losing eligibility!
Why N.J.’s Republicans in Congress are OK with 16M Americans losing insurance | Opinion
N.J.'s three Republican House members, all of whom voted for the bill, dismiss these official estimates.
www.nj.com
June 16, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Republicans' monster bill is designed to make people self-deport from Medicaid and Obamacare.
That creates a talking point (also not true): No one is losing eligibility!
That creates a talking point (also not true): No one is losing eligibility!
What can we learn from states like ME, TX, and NY when it comes to outpatient hospital billing reforms?
Join @mccourtschool.bsky.social in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce hospital outpatient charges and improve health care affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
Join @mccourtschool.bsky.social in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce hospital outpatient charges and improve health care affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
Facility Fee Reforms: How States Are Tackling Excessive Charges
Learn how different states are working to reduce excessive hospital outpatient facility fees at this in-person event in Washington, DC.
bit.ly
June 10, 2025 at 5:15 PM
What can we learn from states like ME, TX, and NY when it comes to outpatient hospital billing reforms?
Join @mccourtschool.bsky.social in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce hospital outpatient charges and improve health care affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
Join @mccourtschool.bsky.social in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce hospital outpatient charges and improve health care affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
What can we learn from states like ME, TX, and NY when it comes to #facilityfee reform?
Join me and @GtownCHIR in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce #hospital outpatient charges and improve #healthcare #affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
#healthpolicy
Join me and @GtownCHIR in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce #hospital outpatient charges and improve #healthcare #affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
#healthpolicy
Facility Fee Reforms: How States Are Tackling Excessive Charges
Learn how different states are working to reduce excessive hospital outpatient facility fees at this in-person event in Washington, DC.
bit.ly
May 27, 2025 at 7:57 PM
What can we learn from states like ME, TX, and NY when it comes to #facilityfee reform?
Join me and @GtownCHIR in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce #hospital outpatient charges and improve #healthcare #affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
#healthpolicy
Join me and @GtownCHIR in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce #hospital outpatient charges and improve #healthcare #affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
#healthpolicy
What can we learn from states like ME, TX, and NY when it comes to #facilityfee reform?
Join me and @GtownCHIR in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce #hospital outpatient charges and improve #healthcare #affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
#healthpolicy
Join me and @GtownCHIR in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce #hospital outpatient charges and improve #healthcare #affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
#healthpolicy
Facility Fee Reforms: How States Are Tackling Excessive Charges
Learn how different states are working to reduce excessive hospital outpatient facility fees at this in-person event in Washington, DC.
bit.ly
May 27, 2025 at 7:57 PM
What can we learn from states like ME, TX, and NY when it comes to #facilityfee reform?
Join me and @GtownCHIR in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce #hospital outpatient charges and improve #healthcare #affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
#healthpolicy
Join me and @GtownCHIR in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce #hospital outpatient charges and improve #healthcare #affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY
#healthpolicy
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
PBMs get a lot of attention. But most employer #healthcare dollars are spent on medical care where another type of corporate middlemen operates: third-party administrators (TPAs) owned by large insurance companies. Via @healthaffairs.bsky.social buff.ly/y6uiYa1 #healthpolicy #healthinsurance #medsky
May 19, 2025 at 6:23 PM
PBMs get a lot of attention. But most employer #healthcare dollars are spent on medical care where another type of corporate middlemen operates: third-party administrators (TPAs) owned by large insurance companies. Via @healthaffairs.bsky.social buff.ly/y6uiYa1 #healthpolicy #healthinsurance #medsky
🚨 Today in Health Affairs, Amy Killelea and I highlight how ongoing efforts in #Congress to dismantle the #ACA imperil the well-being of young adults with insulin-requiring #diabetes. 🚨
Read it here: www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...
Read it here: www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...
Health Insurance Transitions For Young People With Diabetes Can Be Life Threatening | Health Affairs Forefront
For the many young adults living with diabetes, health insurance coverage transitions are not only stressful; they can also have life and death consequences.
www.healthaffairs.org
May 15, 2025 at 3:40 PM
🚨 Today in Health Affairs, Amy Killelea and I highlight how ongoing efforts in #Congress to dismantle the #ACA imperil the well-being of young adults with insulin-requiring #diabetes. 🚨
Read it here: www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...
Read it here: www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...
Even with #healthinsurance, millions of people with #diabetes face high costs and barriers to care that impact their health.
Explore our NEW @helmsleytrust.bsky.social-funded research on state #policy solutions to improve #coverage, #costsharing and #priorauthorization: bit.ly/3SwBUNS
Explore our NEW @helmsleytrust.bsky.social-funded research on state #policy solutions to improve #coverage, #costsharing and #priorauthorization: bit.ly/3SwBUNS
May 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Even with #healthinsurance, millions of people with #diabetes face high costs and barriers to care that impact their health.
Explore our NEW @helmsleytrust.bsky.social-funded research on state #policy solutions to improve #coverage, #costsharing and #priorauthorization: bit.ly/3SwBUNS
Explore our NEW @helmsleytrust.bsky.social-funded research on state #policy solutions to improve #coverage, #costsharing and #priorauthorization: bit.ly/3SwBUNS
When tests get sent to a hospital facility, consumers can end up paying $1000+ for routine lab work. Adding insult to injury, these are the "discounted" payment rates their insurance company agreed to!
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
The Patient Expected a Free Checkup. The Bill Was $1,430. - KFF Health News
Carmen Aiken of Chicago thought their medical appointment would be covered because the Affordable Care Act requires insurers to pay for a long list of preventive services. But after the appointment, A...
kffhealthnews.org
May 2, 2025 at 9:27 PM
When tests get sent to a hospital facility, consumers can end up paying $1000+ for routine lab work. Adding insult to injury, these are the "discounted" payment rates their insurance company agreed to!
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
I was honored to appear on @pbsnews.org on Saturday to help explain what's going on with outpatient #facilityfee billing and how states are responding! Please check out the segment, which also highlights two stories from Minnesota families dealing with these bills.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Why patients are getting hit with surprise hospital fees for routine medical care
In recent years, hospital systems have been buying up medical practices at a rapid pace. Now, patients getting routine medical care are being hit with high costs and unexpected hospital fees — even if...
www.pbs.org
April 14, 2025 at 1:23 PM
I was honored to appear on @pbsnews.org on Saturday to help explain what's going on with outpatient #facilityfee billing and how states are responding! Please check out the segment, which also highlights two stories from Minnesota families dealing with these bills.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
America’s exorbitantly expensive hospitals—is featured in today’s Chartbook Top Link. Link in comment.
April 2, 2025 at 6:12 PM
America’s exorbitantly expensive hospitals—is featured in today’s Chartbook Top Link. Link in comment.
Until we get policies to actually drive prices down, I am trying my best to help consumers (maybe) steer clear of facility fees by digging around the internet for obscure policy documents...
How to (maybe) steer clear of facility fees
Our two best strategies for avoiding these increasingly common charges
open.substack.com
April 3, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Until we get policies to actually drive prices down, I am trying my best to help consumers (maybe) steer clear of facility fees by digging around the internet for obscure policy documents...
My latest essay -- States As Contractor, with Maanasa Kona and Madeline O'Brien -- is available now. Learn more about the extent to which state contracting power can be a workaround to leg/reg barriers to health care cost containment: www.cambridge.org/core/books/h...
States as Contractor (Chapter 6) - Health Law as Private Law
Health Law as Private Law - March 2025
www.cambridge.org
March 18, 2025 at 4:32 PM
My latest essay -- States As Contractor, with Maanasa Kona and Madeline O'Brien -- is available now. Learn more about the extent to which state contracting power can be a workaround to leg/reg barriers to health care cost containment: www.cambridge.org/core/books/h...
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
AOC: It is almost unthinkable why Senate Democrats would vote to to hand the few pieces of leverage that we have away for free when we've been sent here to protect social security, protect medicaid, and protect medicare.
March 14, 2025 at 12:16 AM
AOC: It is almost unthinkable why Senate Democrats would vote to to hand the few pieces of leverage that we have away for free when we've been sent here to protect social security, protect medicaid, and protect medicare.
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
Schumer is acceding to the GOP’s plan to blow up D.C.’s budget by prohibiting us from spending a billion dollars *of our own money,* forcing devastating cuts to vital services out of pure spite toward our city and its residents. And he doesn’t bother defending his decision to throw us under the bus.
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com
The Republican budget bill is "a terrible option," Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, writes in a guest essay. But "the risk of allowing the president to take even more power via a government shutdown is a much worse path."
The Republican budget bill is "a terrible option," Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, writes in a guest essay. But "the risk of allowing the president to take even more power via a government shutdown is a much worse path."
Opinion | Chuck Schumer: Why Democrats Must Not Allow the Government to Shut Down
A government shutdown would lead to real pain for the American people.
www.nytimes.com
March 14, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Schumer is acceding to the GOP’s plan to blow up D.C.’s budget by prohibiting us from spending a billion dollars *of our own money,* forcing devastating cuts to vital services out of pure spite toward our city and its residents. And he doesn’t bother defending his decision to throw us under the bus.
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
The absolute devastation that @chuckschumer.com is about to inflict on D.C. by supporting the GOP’s continuing resolution is hard to overstate. Massive cuts to schools and law enforcement. Teachers laid off en masse. Basic city services may grind to a halt because we *cannot spend our own money.*
March 14, 2025 at 12:32 AM
The absolute devastation that @chuckschumer.com is about to inflict on D.C. by supporting the GOP’s continuing resolution is hard to overstate. Massive cuts to schools and law enforcement. Teachers laid off en masse. Basic city services may grind to a halt because we *cannot spend our own money.*
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
Nothing will kill more children than the ongoing decimation of CDC, NIH, and USAID work to lift vaccine uptake in the US and world.
Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Contribution of vaccination to improved survival and health: modelling 50 years of the Expanded Programme on Immunization
Since 1974 substantial gains in childhood survival have occurred in every global region.
We estimate that EPI has provided the single greatest contribution to improved infant
survival over the past 50...
www.thelancet.com
March 13, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Nothing will kill more children than the ongoing decimation of CDC, NIH, and USAID work to lift vaccine uptake in the US and world.
Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
The new head of the FDA division that regulates infant formula was in recent months a corporate lawyer defending a top formula maker from claims that its product gave rise to debilitating harm to premature babies.
He Fought Claims of Harm From Infant Formula. Now He Regulates It.
Kyle Diamantas, a former corporate lawyer, is the new director for the F.D.A. food division, which oversees infant formula. He defended a top maker in cases claiming the company had not warned of pote...
www.nytimes.com
March 6, 2025 at 1:12 AM
The new head of the FDA division that regulates infant formula was in recent months a corporate lawyer defending a top formula maker from claims that its product gave rise to debilitating harm to premature babies.
As someone currently hiring a health policy research fellow, I can confirm the incredible talent loss currently hitting CMS and other parts of HHS. This includes both the people they have let go, and recent and upcoming graduates who normally may have entered government service. It is devastating.
Wow: Jeff Grant, a top career official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, retired today. On his way out, Grant sent this letter excoriating Jeffery Anoka, who carried out the DOGE firings, and said Anoka is "ethically and legally bound to restore" the jobs of the fired employees.
March 1, 2025 at 3:04 PM
As someone currently hiring a health policy research fellow, I can confirm the incredible talent loss currently hitting CMS and other parts of HHS. This includes both the people they have let go, and recent and upcoming graduates who normally may have entered government service. It is devastating.
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
Wow: Jeff Grant, a top career official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, retired today. On his way out, Grant sent this letter excoriating Jeffery Anoka, who carried out the DOGE firings, and said Anoka is "ethically and legally bound to restore" the jobs of the fired employees.
March 1, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Wow: Jeff Grant, a top career official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, retired today. On his way out, Grant sent this letter excoriating Jeffery Anoka, who carried out the DOGE firings, and said Anoka is "ethically and legally bound to restore" the jobs of the fired employees.
Reposted by Christine H. Monahan
Tens of thousands of federal employees and contractors have lost their jobs in recent weeks. As a result, many of these workers and their families may now be navigating a loss of job-based health insurance. Here are a few tips for people in this challenging situation.
February 28, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Tens of thousands of federal employees and contractors have lost their jobs in recent weeks. As a result, many of these workers and their families may now be navigating a loss of job-based health insurance. Here are a few tips for people in this challenging situation.