Helaine Fingold Quoted in “'Watching the Clues': Uncertainty Clouds Medicare Broker Conference”

Helaine I. Fingold, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Baltimore office, was quoted in Fierce Healthcare, in “'Watching the Clues': Uncertainty Clouds Medicare Broker Conference,” by Noah Tong.

Following is an excerpt:

Medicare agents and brokers are trying to get a handle on a rapidly changing health landscape, but, in some respects, there are more questions than answers.

That sense of uncertainty, even worry, was palpable at Medicarians in Las Vegas on March 30 to April 2. Medicarians hosts stakeholders ranging from agents and brokers, to carriers to investors, to regulators each year.

The multiday conference focused on upcoming Medicare regulations, now released through the Medicare Advantage (MA) final rate notice and a 2026 final rule, and how the industry should adapt to the Trump administration’s radically different approach to healthcare

A main theme throughout the days’ panels? It’s not clear the steps leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will take to reverse chronic disease, grow MA or function under a new reorganization and reductions in force—and that’s making it hard to prepare for the future.

“We’re trying to figure out what’s going on and we’re all watching the clues,” said Helaine Fingold, a partner at Epstein Becker & Green, during her session.

Below are four takeaways from the conference. ...

HHS RIFs

Hanging over the conference was anticipated, and then breaking, news about wide-scale layoffs at the HHS, including a reorganization that sees offices close and consolidate under a new Administration for a Healthy America.

The department is now reduced by 20,000 employees after firings, reductions in force, early retirement offers and buyouts. Though the administration argues the department will be more efficient and streamlined, some aren’t sure that is the reality. ...

Since then, RFK Jr. said some of the firings were a mistake and would be reinstated. Probationary employees fired earlier this year at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were asked to return, Fierce Healthcare reported.

And, in a CBS News interview, RFK Jr. seemed unaware of the extent of the $11 billion in grant cuts to local and state health programs.

“Again, the lack of a plan, the random non-thoughtful process they’re undertaking just seems a recipe for disaster,” added Fingold.