To supplement Spring and Fall Meetings, in July, the Special Needs Plan Alliance will begin offering virtual meetings designed to be highly interactive rather than generic webinars. These topic-specific interactive Forums will be deep dive educational sessions targeted to plan staff who typically are unable to attend Special Needs Plan Alliance in-person meetings. These events also will expand our capacity to deliver on the Alliance’s promise of serving as a SNP learning community. The Forums will be held in July and December of each year going forward and are free to Special Needs Plan Alliance members. Non-members may participate with a registration fee. 

Kick-Off Event. On July 30, 2026, 2:00 – 3:30 EST, the Special Needs Plan Alliance will convene its first Forum – Key Use Cases in AI/Data Governance. The Forum will build upon our Spring Meeting AI/Data Governance sessions but will not duplicate. Mark your calendars for the event! An agenda and registration link will be sent on June 11. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact Sam Amaya at samaya@snpalliance.org. 

On May 21, the Energy & Commerce Committee held a full committee markup to consider 16 bills, 14 of which would address health-related issues. All health-related bills were advanced by voice vote. A summary of the legislation considered can be found here. 

SNP Areas of Interest: H.R. 3747, Accelerating Access to Dementia and Alzheimer’s Provider Training Act; H.R. 3491, DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project Act of 2025 (specific to persons with ID/DD); and H.R. 1493, To reauthorize and make improvements to Federal programs relating to the prevention, detection, and treatment of traumatic brain injuries, and for other purposes.

On May 20, Finance Committee Ranking Member Wyden and 16 Senate Democrats sent a Dear Colleague letter outlining an initiative to improve access and affordability of long-term care for seniors, Americans with disabilities, and their families. The letter identifies three policy goals: making home care affordable and accessible, improving the quality of care in nursing homes, and using incentives to strengthen the long-term care workforce. Ranking Member Wyden also released a flash report addressing recent changes to long-term care policy, including Medicaid funding reductions and the repeal of nursing home staffing standards that required 24-hour registered nurse access.

SNP Areas of Interest: The Special Needs Plan Alliance has begun discussions with Senate Finance Minority staff and will be submitting policy concepts in response to the policy goals. If you would like to be engaged in this area, please contact Mike Cheek at mcheek@snpalliance.org. 

On May 21, CMS proposed a rule titled Medicaid Managed Care State Directed Payments (SDP) and Medicaid Fee-for-Service (FFS) Targeted Practitioner Payments, which would cap SDP provider payment rates at 100% of Medicare payment rates for expansion states and 110% for non-expansion states, apply similar limits to certain targeted Medicaid FFS payments, and establish consistent national standards for transparency and accountability. This proposed rule is being released to advance policy changes consistent with a Presidential Memorandum, “Eliminating Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Medicaid,” and implement provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill. A fact sheet on the rule can be found here. SNP Areas of Interest: The Special Needs Plan Alliance will be submitting comments working with Medicaid-focused plan groups. For more information, contact Mike Cheek at mcheek@snpalliance.org.

Parts C and D NPRM and Advance Notice – As noted above, the Special Needs Plan Alliance is formulating pre-rulemaking concepts and Advance Notice asks to be submitted to CMS. Special Needs Plan Alliance members are invited to participate in our June 4 Leadership in Policy meeting, during which we will review the proposed concepts. We encourage you to check in with your teams to determine whether you have a Leadership in Policy Work Group participant(s). Work Group participants received a meeting packet on May 22 in preparation for the June 4 meeting.  For more information, contact Sam Amaya at samaya@snpalliance.org. 

The Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) has developed a report outlining three core strategies and corresponding action steps to build a stronger, more coordinated, and patient-centered complex care evidence base. To view CHCS’ work click here.