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
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
Republicans hold a trifecta of control after winning the White House, US Senate, and US House of Representatives for the 119th Congress. They will aim to pass an agenda backed by President Trump that is focused on tax cuts,...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
118th Congress Wraps Up - Congress has five days to complete remaining business before the December 20 government funding deadline. It is still expected that the government will be funded via a short-term continuing...more
Senate Special Committee on Aging Holds Hearing on People with Disabilities. Senators and witnesses acknowledged the significant barriers that exist for Americans with disabilities and discussed current and proposed federal...more
Republicans Win Control of White House and Senate, Seem Poised to Maintain Control of House. Former President Donald Trump will return to the White House, and Republicans also gained control of the Senate. Some toss-up House...more
One More Week Until Election Recess - The House and Senate are in Washington, DC, for one more week before leaving until after election day. Over the weekend, congressional leaders struck a deal on a continuing resolution...more
Senate Staying Busy The House has started its August recess, so members are out until September 9, 2024. The Senate is in session, before joining the House in recess next week. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor...more
Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing on Medical Debt. The hearing examined the negative impacts of medical debt and explored potential solutions to address the growing issue. Senators and witnesses highlighted the disparity...more
House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Value-Based Care. The hearing examined the challenges and opportunities associated with delivering better health outcomes and Medicare savings through value-based care....more
HOUSE PARTIES - The Senate is in recess until July 8. The House returns tomorrow and will be in session until its Independence Day break next week. (Quick note: the Healthcare Preview will also be on break next week.)...more
Senate Finance Committee Holds Hearing on Disability Benefits. The hearing discussed ways to improve work incentives for those on Social Security disability programs. Senators and witnesses noted that there are currently...more
House Energy & Commerce Committee Advances 13 Health Bills. The bipartisan legislation dealt with public health, Medicaid fraud and some small telehealth bills, but not the Medicare extension legislation that the committee is...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
Congress is in session this week, with the Senate in today and the House returning tomorrow. They will both be out next week for the Memorial Day recess break. As such, this will be a busy week in Congress, though once again...more
House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee Advances 21 Bills. The markup included legislation around telehealth, Medicaid, workforce and rare diseases. Of note, the subcommittee advanced a bill that included an extension of...more
House Ways & Means Committee Marks Up Telehealth and More. The bills considered in the markup support expanding access to telehealth as well as access to healthcare in rural areas. All six bills passed out of the committee,...more
Both chambers of Congress are in session this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Senate is out today, and the House is out on Friday. Both chambers will also hold healthcare-related hearings on Wednesday morning...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
Congress is back in session this week, with the House in today and the Senate returning tomorrow. They are back for a four-week stretch until the Memorial Day recess break. Congress has already moved many of the major bills...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
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