The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced on September 22 that it was canceling approximately 315,000 unauthorized Marketplace enrollments covering more than 760,000 people. CMS estimates that the action will return about $2.2 billion in federal subsidies. Those numbers show the scale of the integrity problem. They also describe hundreds of thousands of people…

A federal Medicaid community engagement requirement is approaching, and social workers should treat it as a health access issue rather than a simple employment policy. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says states generally must implement the requirement by January 1, 2027. In the affected eligibility groups, continued coverage may depend on whether a…

An appointment is not accessible simply because a provider has agreed to see someone. A person also needs a workable way to get there and return home. Social work agencies should treat that journey as part of service access, especially when their own records describe a missed visit without explaining whether the person could reach…

The Justice Department filed a civil False Claims Act complaint on September 17, 2026, alleging that executives associated with an Atlanta clinical laboratory used testing schemes that targeted faith communities and older adults. The government alleges that Medicare paid millions of dollars for testing generated through unlawful kickbacks and without individualized judgment from a treating…

A social worker cannot meaningfully assess a person’s needs if the conversation depends on words that person cannot understand. Yet language assistance can be treated as an inconvenience to arrange after an appointment has begun. Social work agencies should regard competent interpretation and understandable written information as part of the service they are responsible for…