The House and Senate convened this week to kick off the 118th Congress. Republicans control the House after four years of a Democratic majority. House Republicans have a very slim majority, with only 222 seats to the...more
1/12/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Congressional Budget Resolution ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Part B ,
Regulatory Agenda
On December 29, 2022, the President signed into law the Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats and Pandemics Act (PREVENT Pandemics Act) as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L....more
In this episode of OnAir: Health Care, Akin Gump senior policy advisor Matthew Hittle and consultant Dr. Mario Ramirez welcome Michael Hund of EB Research Partnership....more
Washington, D.C. is currently focused on a September continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government funded, but it is worth looking ahead to the broader health care horizon and the key Medicare issues that await...more
9/19/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Health Care Providers ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Lame Duck Session ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicare ,
Mental Health ,
Substance Abuse ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
On Monday, April 18, 2022, Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH)—all Republican Members of the House Committee on Ways & Means—reintroduced several pieces of legislation meant to secure...more
In October of 2018, Congress passed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (P.L. 115-271). The comprehensive opioid treatment law passed both chambers of Congress with large bipartisan support and tackled many aspects...more
For the past two years, the United States government has had to deal with most major legislative and regulatory actions against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. In making policy, the federal government has been forced,...more
With the second session of the 117th Congress underway, stakeholders are poised for another busy legislative session set against the dynamic backdrop of an ongoing global pandemic and midterm election year. Numerous...more
In this episode of OnAir: Health Care, Akin Gump health care senior policy advisor Matthew Hittle and consultant Dr. Mario Ramirez welcome Dr. Michael Mina, chief science officer for eMed, a digital point-of-care...more
This episode of OnAir: Health Care is the first in a series on the opioid epidemic in the U.S. Akin Gump health care senior policy advisor Matthew Hittle and consultant Dr. Mario Ramirez welcome Gary Mendell, founder and CEO...more
For several years, policy-makers and commentators have expressed concern about the resilience of the United States’ pharmaceutical supply chain. Current U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities have been at the forefront of...more
10/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) ,
China ,
Competition ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Defense Production Act ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Life Sciences ,
Manufacturers ,
NDAA ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Supply Chain
As has been widely reported, earlier this summer, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 14036, “Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” The EO provides insight into how the Biden-Harris administration plans to...more
9/10/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Biosimilars ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
CMMI ,
Competition ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Hospitals ,
Life Sciences ,
Pharmaceutical Industry
In this new episode of OnAir: Health Care, Akin Gump health care senior policy advisor Matthew Hittle and consultant Dr. Mario Ramirez welcome Akin Gump public law and policy partner Clete Willems and Centrient...more
8/5/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Manufacturers ,
Onshoring ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Secrets ,
TRIPS Agreement ,
Vaccinations ,
Waivers ,
WTO
Background on Cures 2.0 -
The COVID-19 pandemic response demonstrated the tremendous impact innovation can have on a global scale. The unprecedented experiences of the past year and a half have spurred renewed interest in...more
In this new episode of OnAir: Health Care, Akin Gump health care senior policy advisor Matthew Hittle and consultant Dr. Mario Ramirez welcome House Ways and Means Committee health counsel Orriel Richardson and National...more
In this new episode of OnAir: Health Care, Akin Gump health care senior policy advisor Matthew Hittle and consultant Dr. Mario Ramirez welcome public law and policy partners Ed Pagano and Clete Willems to talk federal health...more
4/16/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
Budget Reconciliation ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Infrastructure ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Guidance ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Physicians ,
Public Health ,
Public Policy ,
Vaccinations
In this debut episode of OnAir: Health Care, Akin Gump health care senior policy advisor Matthew Hittle and consultant Dr. Mario Ramirez welcome partner Kelly Cleary to discuss health policy, medical science and Washington...more
4/14/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medicaid ,
New Guidance ,
Physicians ,
Vaccinations
Key Points
- Congress and government watchdogs have conducted considerable work to date investigating the COVID-19 response pertaining to nursing homes.
- Stakeholders should look to previously introduced...more
On February 17, 2021, it was reported that President Biden would nominate Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the largest operating division of the U.S. Department of...more
On February 12, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released highly anticipated guidelines for school reopening during the pandemic. Whereas administrators, teachers and parents were hoping for very...more
On January 28, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, responsive to Democrats’ longstanding commitment to “roll back Trump’s health care sabotage [of the...more
The Biden administration announced on Tuesday, January 26 that it plans to purchase 200 million additional doses of vaccine against COVID-19. Additionally, the administration announced that it plans to increase shipments of...more