A Quiet Healthcare Week on Capitol Hill. Congress was largely in recess this week, although the Senate returned briefly to complete consideration of a long-awaited foreign aid bill. Both chambers will return to session the...more
4/26/2024
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House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Cybersecurity. During the hearing, there was bipartisan concern about UnitedHealth Group’s response to the Change Healthcare cyberattack and consensus around the...more
4/18/2024
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Senate HELP Committee Holds Field Hearing on Private Equity. In the hearing, held at the Massachusetts State House, members discussed the impact of private equity ownership on patients, providers, quality of care and...more
4/8/2024
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Appropriations Update. On March 20, Congress released bill text for the second (and final) tranche of fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills, which include: Defense, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS,...more
Appropriations Update. On March 3, Congress released bill text for the CAA, 2024, which includes funding for six of the 12 appropriations bills: Agriculture-FDA, Military Construction-VA, Energy-Water, Transportation-HUD,...more
3/11/2024
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Appropriations Update. As appropriators continue to finalize the 12 funding bills for fiscal year (FY) 2024 – which began on October 1, 2023 – a series of stopgap CRs have been needed to avoid a government shutdown. This...more
3/4/2024
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IT’S SHUTDOWN WEEK . . . AGAIN -
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. Congress returns to session this week, with precious little time to avert a looming partial government shutdown at midnight on Friday. After...more
2/27/2024
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Senate HELP Committee Releases HIPAA Modernization White Paper: Sen. Cassidy (R-LA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a white paper entitled “Strengthening Health...more
2/26/2024
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House Energy and Commerce Committee Holds Hearing on Healthcare Costs. The hearing included discussion on what factors are causing cost increases for individuals, for the healthcare sector, and for federal health programs...more
2/2/2024
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Senate Finance Chair Continues Inquiry into MA Marketing Techniques. Chairman Wyden (D-OR) sent letters to five third-party marketing organizations that participate in the MA enrollment period. The letters seek information on...more
1/29/2024
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On January 17, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule that will require certain payers to automate their prior authorization processes and implement application program interfaces...more
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
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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
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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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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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Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
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Physician Fee Schedule ,
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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
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CONGRESS -
House Republicans Still Unable to Elect New Speaker. As of publication of this newsletter, the House has held three roll call votes this week to elect a new speaker, with Rep. Jordan (R-OH) failing all three...more
CONGRESS -
House Republicans Working to Elect New Speaker. On October 11, House Majority Leader Scalise won the Republican Conference’s nomination to become Speaker of the House after last week’s motion to vacate Speaker...more
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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Passing the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund the federal government for the next fiscal year (which starts on October 1), or enacting a stopgap continuing resolution in the interim, seems to come down to the wire...more
9/28/2023
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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
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Transparency
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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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