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The warrantless surveillance authority is set to expire on Friday.
President Donald Trump asked lawmakers to pass a short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Aaron Schwartz / CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Patients enrolled in some of the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage plans were denied requests for rehabilitation and other critical services at unusually high rates, according to a report released today by the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general.
It comes amid increased scrutiny of how insurers use prior authorization, a cost-cutting tool that experts say often leads to the delay or denial of necessary care.
“These denial rates are quite staggering,” said Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh. “It’s another data point that reinforces what a lot of Americans have already been articulating a lot of frustration about — which is that healthcare decisions are being made with profit rather than medical necessity in mind.”
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A federal judge denied a request to temporarily halt the Trump administration’s proposed “anti-weaponization” fund but warned the Justice Department not to misrepresent the status of the $1.8 billion fund, which acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress is not moving forward.
“Don’t play possum with this court,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon warned a Justice Department attorney in court yesterday afternoon after he rejected the temporary restraining order request from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, one of several groups seeking to block the fund.
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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the House will vote this morning on a short-term extension of the reauthorization of FISA Section 702 at Trump’s request.
The measure would push back the expiration of the spying program’s powers to July 2.
Johnson said yesterday that the bill would be brought up under a procedure that requires a two-thirds majority of the House for passage.
“The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is how we surveil terrorists who are trying to hurt Americans. It is a very important, vital national security tool,” he said.
Johnson said that he spoke to Trump about nominating a director of national intelligence, but that Trump said he was not ready to make a pick just yet. Many Democrats have said they will hold up FISA reauthorization until acting National Intelligence Director Bill Pulte is removed from the post he’s set to take over on June 19.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said he is a “hard no” on the short-term extension bill, pointing to skepticism among national security Democrats about Pulte, who has no experience working in the U.S. intelligence community.
NBC News
