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As the budget resolution process and subsequent reconciliation strategy unfolds, Medicaid reforms that have posed headline enrollment and payment risk to Medicaid insurers [CNC, MOH, ELV], dual eligible insurers [UNH, HUM, ELV, CVS],hospitals [ARDT, CYH,…

Today’s reaction to the WSJ report that UnitedHealth (UNH) is under civil investigation by the DOJ for Medicare False Claims Act violations strikes us as overwrought, with ultimate financial liabilities (still 1-2 years away) unlikely…

With Royal Caribbean (RCL), Carnival Corporation (CCL), and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) all down ~5% or more yesterday on fears that Congress will hike taxes on the industry as part of this year’s tax…

We think Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s proposal to cut 8% of the defense budget over the next five years will set up a clash with congressional Republicans, who have called for an increase in defense…

We suspect CMS’s draft National Coverage Determination (NCD) for renal denervation (RDN) [Medtronic, Otsuka] – scheduled for release July 13 – will limit eligibility to 10-20% (~3.1M-7.5M) of the estimated ~32M Medicare beneficiaries with hypertension…

While hospices [CHE, ADUS, private Gentiva, Compassus] are receiving a reprieve for now from more intensive oversight and the threat of termination from Medicare after CMS announced it was going to sideline the statutorily mandated…

This week, we expect the Senate to consider their FY25 budget resolution that would set off the two-reconciliation bill strategy. In addition, Kash Patel is likely to be confirmed by the Senate as FBI Director…

The House Republican budget released yesterday includes potential cuts to the food stamp / SNAP program that could be as high as $230 billion over ten years, which would be a negative for Walmart (WMT),…

Below we go over a host of issues that DC is grappling with from reconciliation / tax cut to defense spending, trade, Medicaid cuts, a potential government shutdown, the Fed’s independence and RFK’s nomination to…

We expect Humana (HUM) to ultimately prevail in its lawsuit against HHS to secure higher 2025 Medicare Advantage (MA) star ratings, but it may take longer than we originally expected (as early as March-April). While…