During this election year, McDermottPlus is actively monitoring annual regulations that federal agencies are expected to release, as well as “ad hoc” regulations that will be released at the discretion of federal agencies. ...more
4/26/2024
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
DEA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Department of Veterans Affairs ,
Employee Benefits ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
New Regulations ,
OCR ,
OIG ,
OSHA ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform
Earlier this week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released two final regulations that added new requirements for states when operating their Medicaid programs. Medicaid is currently the largest health...more
CONGRESS AWAY, ADMINISTRATION STILL IN PLAY -
Congress is mostly in recess this week, with the exception of the Senate returning on Tuesday, April 23, to consider the House-passed foreign aid package. Thus there are no...more
While congressional debate and action will focus on aid to Israel this week, committees will continue to move forward their health agendas via hearings. The House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the Change Healthcare...more
4/16/2024
/ Congressional Review Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Federal Budget ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Israel ,
Long-Term Care ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare
Neil deGrasse Tyson routinely reminds us that January 1 is “a cosmically arbitrary event, carrying no Astronomical significance,” and that bodes well for Congress, whose new year is just getting started.
Sure, it’s...more
At midnight on Friday, funding runs out for the remaining six FY 2024 annual spending bills: State – Foreign Operations, Defense, Homeland Security, Labor – Health and Human Services, Legislative Branch, and Financial...more
3/19/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Congressional Committees ,
Federal Budget ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Legislative Committees ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Ways and Means Committee
BIDEN’S BUDGET -
Today, Monday, March 11, President Biden released his budget for fiscal year (FY) 2025. While the budget request represents the administration’s funding goals for the coming year, it also sheds light on...more
It is finally healthcare week in the 118th Congress. Congress has produced an agreement to fund six of the dozen outstanding appropriations bills and should avoid the partial government shutdown pending on Friday. To that...more
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
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Committees ,
U.S. House
A key element of the Medicaid Redesign Team 1115 Waiver amendment is the Medicaid Hospital Global Budget Initiative (GBI), a reimbursement model tied very closely to the States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and...more
Last week, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) within the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a long-awaited final reg that aims to better align 42 CFR Part 2. This...more
THERE’S NO GOLD RUSH, SO THE CHIEFS ARE STILL IN TOWN -
Last week, we noted that the Senate was “scheduled” to begin a two-week recess today, February 12. We used that wording intentionally because we knew things could...more
Although about a month is left before the March 1 and March 8 government funding deadlines, time is of the essence in coming to agreement on several contentious issues. The Senate is scheduled to begin a two-week recess on...more
On January 9, 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the New York State (NY) 1115 Medicaid waiver “Medicaid Redesign Team” (MRT). The MRT is a long-standing waiver in NY that has continuously...more
APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS MOVES FORWARD -
Over the weekend, negotiators in Congress agreed to certain spending allocations in order to fund various government agencies through most of the year. With both bodies in session...more
CONGRESS BUYS MORE TIME -
Last Friday President Biden signed a short-term funding patch. This extends government funding through a continuing resolution (CR) into March. Specifically, this CR gives Congress until March 1...more
The Senate is back in session today, and the House comes back tomorrow. The beginning of 2024 is looking a lot like the end of 2023, with the big factor being the need to address government funding for fiscal year (FY) 2024....more
1/9/2024
/ Billing ,
Congressional Committees ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
HELP ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicare ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Price Transparency ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Committees ,
U.S. House
As we continue to “unwind” from the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), we are still very much in a transition period. Many of the policies that beneficiaries, providers, plans and states came to rely on during the...more
IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CONGRESS (BUT JUST FOR A WEEK)
Welcome to what should be the final legislative week of the calendar year.
The work that Congress does this week may provide insight into what will get...more
Two-Week Stretch Before Holiday Recess - Congress only has two weeks left in session for the rest of year. There is a lot to accomplish in those two weeks. While government funding has been punted into early 2024, Congress is...more
Limited Time Before the End of the Year and January 19 First, welcome back from what was hopefully a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving break. Although this year will not entail a year-end government funding package, we are...more
11/28/2023
/ Appropriations Bill ,
Congressional Committees ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicare ,
NDAA ,
New Legislation ,
Payment Systems ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements
Will the Government Shut Down at the End of This Week?
We have reached the final work week during which Congress will need to come to an agreement on funding the government or enter a shutdown...more
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
/ Appropriations Bill ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Federal Funding ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Physician Fee Schedule ,
Section 340B ,
U.S. House
On November 2, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the calendar year (CY) 2024 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems Final Rule [CMS-1786-FC]. The...more
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
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Final Rules ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Hospitals ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Section 340B