Health care issues will remain a central focus in Washington throughout 2019. Having gained control of the House following the 2018 mid-term elections, Democrats now have the ability to block President Trump's legislative...more
2/12/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Block Grants ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
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Congressional Oversight ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicaid Expansion ,
Medicare ,
Medicare for All ,
Political Parties ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Repeal ,
Stark Law ,
State Medicaid Programs ,
Trump Administration ,
Waivers
On December 14, Texas U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor issued a broad federal court ruling in Texas v. Azar to overturn the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the basis that the individual mandate penalty, which Congress...more
On October 10, 2018, Senate Democrats pushed for a largely symbolic vote to overrule the Trump Administration's expansion of short-term health plans that failed to advance in the Senate on a 50-50 tie vote....more
After repeated attempts to repeal failed in 2017, overarching federal reform of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) appears unlikely in 2018. However, ongoing uncertainty and turmoil in the individual insurance market will ensure...more
After dominating the agenda for most of 2017, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) seemed to take a backseat at first as Republicans shifted their focus to enacting tax legislation. The initial momentum behind the bipartisan...more
11/20/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Congressional Budget Office ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Individual Mandate ,
Open Enrollment ,
Repeal ,
Trump Administration
On October 17, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) announced they had agreed on a proposal for a narrow, short-term individual market...more
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price resigned on September 29, following the collapse of Republicans' efforts to repeal-and-replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and revelations that he spent more...more
Following defections from Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), John McCain (R-AZ), and Susan Collins (R-ME), Senate Republican leaders announced on September 26 that they did not have the votes for the Graham-Cassidy plan – the last...more
September is traditionally one of the busiest months in Washington, and this year is no exception. While much of the attention is focused on the debt ceiling debate, appropriations and the federal response to Hurricane...more
Federal funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – which covers approximately 9 million children nationwide at a cost of approximately $15 billion per year – expires September 30. Thus far, congressional...more
After a late-night defeat, it appears that Senate Republicans' years-long push to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has stalled following deep divisions between moderate and conservative members over the goals and various...more
Having returned from its Memorial Day recess, Congress now enters one of the longest continuous work periods of the year and – with the exception of the week of the Fourth of July – will likely be in session until the end of...more
6/28/2017
/ ACOs ,
Affordable Care Act ,
American Health Care Act (AHCA) ,
Budget Control Act of 2011 ,
Chronic Care Managment (CCM) ,
Congressional Budget Office ,
Debt Ceiling ,
FDA Reauthorization Act ,
Federal Budget ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
GDUFA ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
OMB ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
On June 22, Senate Republicans released a discussion draft of the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), their companion bill to the House-passed American Health Care Act (AHCA). The legislation, which reforms the Affordable...more
On May 24, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released much-anticipated analysis of the House-passed American Health Care Act (AHCA). Overall, CBO projected that the AHCA would reduce...more
April saw the debate in Congress heat up as Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed for a seat on the Supreme Court, House Republicans suspended, restarted and then ultimately succeeded in their effort to repeal and replace the...more
All of Washington was watching as House Republicans failed to meet a self-imposed deadline to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The House Republican replacement proposal, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which had...more
On March 24, the AHCA, the House Republican plan to repeal and replace the ACA, was pulled from consideration at the last minute after Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) reportedly told President Trump the measure did not have the...more
The American Health Care Act (AHCA), the House Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was pulled from consideration at the last minute after Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) reportedly told President...more
On Thursday, March 9, after two overnight markups (one lasting 18 hours and one more than 27 hours), the House Ways and Means Committee and House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 23 to 16 and 32 to 23, respectively, to...more