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
NEXT UP: SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON -
The House officially has a speaker: Mike Johnson (R-LA).
On October 25, Rep. Johnson became Speaker Johnson with a final vote on the first ballot of 220–209.
Speaker Johnson, a...more
The House of Representatives has now been without a speaker for 20 days. Last week, Rep. Jordan (R-OH) dropped out of the speaker race after an internal Republican Conference vote showed he had no path to victory. This week,...more
Speaker Race Impacts Healthcare Priorities We start this week as we did the last, with no speaker of the House. The House is scheduled to vote on Tuesday for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to be the speaker of the House. However, it...more
ALL EYES ON THE HOUSE -
The Senate is in its planned recess this week.
The House is in recess until notified.
With a successful motion to vacate the speaker on October 3, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) is currently...more
What’s Next After Congress (Temporarily) Avoided a Shutdown?
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy put a continuing resolution (CR) on the House floor that funds the government at current levels, extends key otherwise-expiring...more
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
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Government Shutdown ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Committees ,
U.S. House
This week the House returns from August recess, so both bodies of Congress will be here and working. There is a lot to accomplish prior to the September 30, 2023, deadline for Congress to act to fund the federal government....more
Today the Senate returns from August recess, while the House remains on recess until next week. We are prepared for a very busy final quarter of 2023.
The first order of business for Congress is to fund the federal...more
The price of prescription drugs has brought scrutiny to the entire drug supply chain. Congress and other policymakers continue to seek opportunities to lower costs for patients and the federal government.
Pharmacy benefit...more
9/6/2023
/ Drug Pricing ,
MCOs ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Medicare Part D ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drug Coverage ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Supply Chain
Congress may be on summer break, but reg season is in full swing. Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final reg that will impact Medicare hospital payments in fiscal year (FY) 2024, which...more
On August 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule. The rule updates Medicare payment policies and quality reporting...more
Heading into the August Recess -
This is the last week in session before Congress goes out for a six-week August recess. Before that, Congress is typically in a mad dash to advance bills. However, this year we are in a...more
Two Weeks Before August Recess
We are rapidly approaching the August recess, when both the House and Senate will be back home for an entire month. As a result, there is a mad dash to move legislation through the...more
On July 13, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the calendar year (CY) 2024 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems Proposed Rule [CMS-1786-P],...more
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
/ Ambulatory Surgery Centers ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Hospitals ,
Medicare ,
MPFS ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Payment Systems ,
Physician Fee Schedule ,
Request For Information ,
Section 340B ,
U.S. Treasury
Calendar Crunch -
The House and the Senate just began a two-week recess for the July 4 holiday. Looking into the future, there are very few working days left on the calendar leading up to the end of the fiscal year. The...more
Work Before July 4 Recess -
This is the last week before Congress heads out for a two-week July 4 recess, and appropriations work in Congress is ramping up.
The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold its first full...more
Can House Republicans Find Unity?
Last week, 11 members from the Republican Freedom Caucus voted against a rule to proceed to several messaging bills on federal regulations and gas stoves. These 11 members voted against...more