Congress Works to Meet Imminent Funding Deadlines. Speaker of the House Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) announced an agreement on top-line spending levels to fund the government for the remainder of...more
1/15/2024
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Congress Returns Next Week to Face Imminent Funding Deadlines. The Senate will return to session on January 8, and the House will return on January 9. Lawmakers face an immediate time crunch on FY 2024 appropriations, as the...more
1/8/2024
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
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Physician Fee Schedule
House Passes Healthcare Legislation. The House brought two key bipartisan healthcare bills to the floor this week. The Lower Costs, More Transparency Act (H.R. 5378) was approved by a vote of 320–71, and the Support for...more
12/18/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
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Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
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U.S. House
Senate Finance Committee Examines Drug Shortages. The hearing addressed concerns and explored potential solutions related to drug shortages in the United States, particularly focusing on essential medications. The hearing...more
12/11/2023
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March-In Rights ,
NIST ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Price Transparency ,
Request For Information ,
Telehealth ,
U.S. Commerce Department
CONGRESS -
House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee Examines AI. The hearing explored the transformative potential of AI in healthcare, acknowledging its promise in enhancing efficiency, improving patient care and...more
12/4/2023
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U.S. House
Congress Passes Two-Tiered CR to Fund Government into Early 2024. In the absence of final passage of any of the 12 annual appropriations bills for FY 2024, Speaker Johnson (R-LA) unveiled a short-term CR, H.R. 6363, the...more
CONGRESS -
Senate Finance Committee Holds Markup on Better Mental Health Care, Lower-Cost Drugs, and Extenders Act. The bipartisan package includes Medicare and Medicaid extenders, provisions to expand the mental health...more
11/10/2023
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Mental Health ,
National Institute of Health (NIH) ,
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Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Physician Fee Schedule ,
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Regulatory Agenda ,
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U.S. House
GOVERNMENT FUNDING EXPIRES SOON -
The government will run out of funding in 11 days, on November 17. The House will continue to work to advance annual appropriations bills this week. However, a continuing resolution (CR)...more
11/7/2023
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U.S. House
CONGRESS -
House Ways & Means Chair Smith, House Energy & Commerce Chair Rodgers and Senate Finance Ranking Member Crapo Call for Withdrawal of Nurse Staffing Mandate. Rep. Smith (R-MO), Rep. Rodgers (R-WA) and Sen. Crapo...more
11/6/2023
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OIG ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS)
On November 2, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the rule Medicare Program; Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System: Remedy for the Calendar Years 2018–2022 to addresses how the...more
11/6/2023
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Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Section 340B
CONGRESS -
House Republicans Elect New Speaker. After weeks of turmoil, the House elected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as the new Speaker of the House on Wednesday with 220 votes secured on the floor. The House is now able to...more
10/30/2023
/ Affordable Care Act ,
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Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
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U.S. House
THIS WEEK’S DOSE -
Uncharted Territory in the House: The House voted to remove Rep. McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker of the House, then recessed until at least October 11, when the House is slated to reconvene to elect a new...more
10/9/2023
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Over The Counter Drugs (OTC) ,
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Request For Information ,
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Telemedicine ,
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U.S. Treasury
Do We End the Week with a Shutdown?
That is the question of the week. We’ll know the answer in five days, but right now, “yes” is a far more plausible answer than “no.”
On the House side, Speaker McCarthy will first...more
9/26/2023
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CONGRESS -
Senators Sanders and Marshall Release Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act. Released on September 14, the legislation would reauthorize funding for a number of healthcare workforce programs that are...more
9/20/2023
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CONGRESS -
House Republicans Release Healthcare Package. On September 6, House Republicans unveiled the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, a draft package of healthcare transparency provisions, pharmacy benefit manager...more
9/11/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
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Congressional Committees ,
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Over-Time ,
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Request For Information ,
Rural Health Care Program ,
Transparency
Congress is officially in recess for the month of August and will return after Labor Day. On the regulatory front, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final fiscal year (FY) 2024 Inpatient...more
8/4/2023
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Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
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No Surprises Act (NSA) ,
Patient Prospective Payment System ,
Payment Systems
The House and Senate were both in session this week, with healthcare activity at the committee level. The House Ways and Means Committee held a markup focused on healthcare transparency and consolidation legislation. The...more
7/28/2023
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U.S. House
The House and Senate were both in session this week, with healthcare activity at the committee level. The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on innovation and a markup of 15 healthcare bills. The Senate...more
7/24/2023
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Vaccinations
The House and Senate returned from recess, beginning a three-week sprint toward the August break. The House Education and the Workforce Committee held a markup of a bipartisan healthcare package of four bills. The House...more
7/14/2023
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On July 7, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed rule Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System: Remedy for 340B-Acquired Drugs Purchased in Cost Years 2018-2022 to address how...more
We hope that you, like Congress, enjoyed some time off last week and are ready to dive in—for a few days at least. As we previously reminded you, the House is only in session 12 days in July, then away for August recess, and...more
7/11/2023
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Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
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Payment Systems ,
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Request For Information ,
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U.S. Treasury
The House and Senate are in recess and will return next week to resume healthcare activity. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is seeking feedback on a staff-level bipartisan discussion draft to...more
7/10/2023
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Senate Committees
Congress was in session for a final week of legislative business before the two-week Independence Day recess. The House brought a small-business-focused healthcare bill to the floor, approving it along party lines....more
6/23/2023
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Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization (MACRA) ,
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The House and Senate were both in session this week, with healthcare activity continuing at the committee level. The House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings on the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA)...more
6/16/2023
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Transgender
On June 3, President Biden signed the debt limit legislation into law, averting default and allowing Congress to return to regularly scheduled business. However, that return was short-lived in the House when a small group of...more
6/9/2023
/ Affordable Care Act ,
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Debt Ceiling ,
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Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
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Social Security ,
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