Senate HELP Committee Marks Up Public Health Program Reauthorizations. The bills would reauthorize several programs related to older adults, individuals with developmental disabilities and individuals with traumatic brain...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 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
Both chambers of Congress are out of session today and return for the rest of the week. Most healthcare priorities remain out of the congressional spotlight this week, but telehealth is still top of mind. As we...more
Tuesday, February 27, 2024: U.S. OPM & OMB Jointly Published First Ever Strategic Plan on Hiring Military Spouses - Pursuant to an Executive Order (“EO) President Biden issued last summer, the U.S. Office of Personnel...more
Health Care was a hot topic in the U.S. Senate on February 8, as two important Senate Committees – the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) – held hearings, respectively, on...more
Congress Passes CR and Averts Government Shutdown. As appropriators continue to draft the 12 funding bills for FY 2024, a new stopgap CR was needed to avoid a partial government shutdown on January 19. The Senate passed the...more
PARTIAL SNOW DAY, PARTIAL SHUT DOWN? Much of the federal government is closed today because of yesterday’s significant (for DC) and unexpected snowfall. However, part of the federal government is set to shut down this...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
House Passes Healthcare Legislation. The House brought two key bipartisan healthcare bills to the floor this week. The Lower Costs, More Transparency Act (H.R. 5378) was approved by a vote of 320–71, and the Support for...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
CONGRESS - House Republicans Release Healthcare Package. On September 6, House Republicans unveiled the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, a draft package of healthcare transparency provisions, pharmacy benefit manager...more
The House and Senate are in recess and will return next week to resume healthcare activity. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is seeking feedback on a staff-level bipartisan discussion draft to...more
The House and Senate were both in session this week, with healthcare activity continuing at the committee level. The House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings on the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA)...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
The House and Senate were both in session this week. The House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee met to discuss policies inhibiting innovation and patient access, and the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee held a...more
On February 16, 2023, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing concerning the current health care workforce shortage. On March 2, 2023, Chairman Sanders and Ranking Member Cassidy of...more
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had a busy 2020, as detailed in earlier blog posts. This blog post explores politics and a few policy activities we’ll be keeping an eye on in 2021 and how they might impact medical...more
Lawmakers remain in negotiations among the three key committees in the House of Representatives: Energy & Commerce, Ways & Means, and Education & Labor, along with the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions...more
This week, the full House is poised to take its first action on drug pricing, voting on a pair of bills that would improve access to drug patents. The first bill is H.R. 1520, the Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, which...more
This week, House Democrats will unveil a sweeping health care bill aimed at lowering premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and to target actions taken by the Administration to undermine the individual market. This comes on the...more
This week, seven top executives from drug manufacturers will testify in a highly anticipated hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. These companies will be questioned regarding rising drug prices, transparency, patent...more
The partial government shutdown is on its 31st day and there’s been little to no change in the landscape. Over the weekend, the President offered a proposal that was rejected by Democrats, leaving us about where we were last...more
Legislative Priorities - It is expected that both the House and Senate will begin the 116th Congress with a focus on higher education. Both the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee as well as the...more