THIS WEEK’S DOSE - - President Trumps signs OBBBA into law. After months of debate, Congress passed and President Trump signed H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), into law on July 4, 2025. - Senate HELP...more
Staff from U.S. Senate committees held meetings with the Senate parliamentarian over the weekend of June 20-22, 2025, to complete the "Byrd bath," a process by which committee staff make their case to the Senate...more
The U.S. Senate will likely release additional sections of the reconciliation package this week. It is unlikely the Senate Committee on Finance, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, will hold a markup on its portion of the...more
Congress is back from recess this week, and focus is on the Senate’s consideration of the House-passed reconciliation bill. Much of this work – for example, ensuring that provisions are consistent with the Byrd Rule – will be...more
THIS WEEK’S DOSE - - House Passes Reconciliation Package. The package now moves to the Senate, where substantive changes, including in healthcare, will likely be made. - HHS Secretary Kennedy, FDA Commissioner Makary...more
MAHA and More Medicaid - Late Sunday night, May 18, 2025, the House Budget Committee voted to advance the reconciliation package drafted by the Energy and Commerce Committee and Ways and Means Committee last week. The four...more
Reconciliation Hits a Speedbump - As of May 6, 2025, it will not be what was anticipated on Capitol Hill. Multiple committees, including the House Energy and Commerce Committee, reportedly had planned to spend this week...more
THIS WEEK’S DOSE - - House Committees Begin Reconciliation Markups. Non-health-related committees moved forward this week, with the House Energy and Commerce Committee tentatively scheduled to mark up its legislative text in...more
Reconciliation Watch - Reports indicate that the Senate will move as soon as Wednesday to begin advancing a unified budget plan. The Senate hopes to be able to advance the budget resolution by having the two chambers...more
After the Presidents Day long weekend, the House is out of session this week. The Senate is in session, with a continued focus on nominations and potential floor action on the budget resolution that the Senate Budget...more
Below is Alston & Bird’s Health Care Week in Review, which provides a synopsis of the latest news in health care regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and congressional committee action; reports, studies,...more
Key Nominations Move Forward. The Senate Finance Committee advanced Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr.’s nomination to lead the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) in a 14 – 13 vote along party lines. The nomination now...more
A lot has happened in the last three weeks, so here’s a high-level recap: Congress successfully, albeit rockily, passed a continuing resolution that will fund the government through March 14, 2025. That legislation...more
Congress Returns for Lame Duck Session. The House and Senate returned this week, kicking off the post-election lame duck session. The focus this week was not on legislating, but on organizing for the upcoming 119th Congress,...more
As we near the end of the 118th Congress and head into a lame duck session postelection, policymakers are eyeing opportunities to reauthorize health programs that expire in December and also pass larger health reforms before...more
House Oversight Subcommittee Hearing with Fauci. The hearing aimed to gather more information on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic by Anthony Fauci, MD, former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases...more
House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee Holds Legislative Hearing on Improving Medicaid Access. Daniel Tsai, deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS), testified. Members...more
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
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
House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Holds Legislative Hearing on 19 Bills. Lawmakers discussed 19 pieces of legislation designed to support patients and caregivers in the key areas of autism, heart defects,...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