Senate Finance Chair Continues Inquiry into MA Marketing Techniques. Chairman Wyden (D-OR) sent letters to five third-party marketing organizations that participate in the MA enrollment period. The letters seek information on...more
1/29/2024
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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
Congress Works to Meet Imminent Funding Deadlines. Speaker of the House Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) announced an agreement on top-line spending levels to fund the government for the remainder of...more
1/15/2024
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Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
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OCR ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SAMHSA ,
Senate Committees
Congress Returns Next Week to Face Imminent Funding Deadlines. The Senate will return to session on January 8, and the House will return on January 9. Lawmakers face an immediate time crunch on FY 2024 appropriations, as the...more
1/8/2024
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Physician Fee Schedule
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
12/18/2023
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Senate Committees ,
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U.S. House
Senate Finance Committee Examines Drug Shortages. The hearing addressed concerns and explored potential solutions related to drug shortages in the United States, particularly focusing on essential medications. The hearing...more
12/11/2023
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HELP ,
March-in-Rights ,
NIST ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Price Transparency ,
Request For Information ,
Telehealth ,
U.S. Commerce Department
Two-Week Stretch Before Holiday Recess - Congress only has two weeks left in session for the rest of year. There is a lot to accomplish in those two weeks. While government funding has been punted into early 2024, Congress is...more
CONGRESS -
House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee Examines AI. The hearing explored the transformative potential of AI in healthcare, acknowledging its promise in enhancing efficiency, improving patient care and...more
12/4/2023
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It’s Thanksgiving week, so instead of eating eggs with your regs, you should sit back, relax and reflect on the regs you are thankful for as you eat your turkey legs (or whatever you enjoy on Thanksgiving). Many of the...more
11/21/2023
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Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Digital Health ,
Final Rules ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) ,
Medicare ,
Mental Health ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
No Surprises Act (NSA) ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Physician Fee Schedule ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Telehealth
Congress Passes Two-Tiered CR to Fund Government into Early 2024. In the absence of final passage of any of the 12 annual appropriations bills for FY 2024, Speaker Johnson (R-LA) unveiled a short-term CR, H.R. 6363, the...more
CONGRESS -
Senate Finance Committee Holds Markup on Better Mental Health Care, Lower-Cost Drugs, and Extenders Act. The bipartisan package includes Medicare and Medicaid extenders, provisions to expand the mental health...more
11/10/2023
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Medicare ,
Mental Health ,
National Institute of Health (NIH) ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Physician Fee Schedule ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Senate Committees ,
Telehealth ,
U.S. House
CONGRESS -
House Ways & Means Chair Smith, House Energy & Commerce Chair Rodgers and Senate Finance Ranking Member Crapo Call for Withdrawal of Nurse Staffing Mandate. Rep. Smith (R-MO), Rep. Rodgers (R-WA) and Sen. Crapo...more
11/6/2023
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Congressional Committees ,
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ESRD ,
Executive Orders ,
Final Rules ,
Hospitals ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare Advantage ,
OIG ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS)
CONGRESS -
House Republicans Elect New Speaker. After weeks of turmoil, the House elected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as the new Speaker of the House on Wednesday with 220 votes secured on the floor. The House is now able to...more
10/30/2023
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Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
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National Institute of Health (NIH) ,
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U.S. House
CONGRESS -
House Republicans Still Unable to Elect New Speaker. As of publication of this newsletter, the House has held three roll call votes this week to elect a new speaker, with Rep. Jordan (R-OH) failing all three...more
CONGRESS -
House Republicans Working to Elect New Speaker. On October 11, House Majority Leader Scalise won the Republican Conference’s nomination to become Speaker of the House after last week’s motion to vacate Speaker...more
THIS WEEK’S DOSE -
Uncharted Territory in the House: The House voted to remove Rep. McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker of the House, then recessed until at least October 11, when the House is slated to reconvene to elect a new...more
10/9/2023
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Laboratory Developed Tests ,
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Over The Counter Drugs (OTC) ,
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Preventive Health Care ,
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Regulatory Requirements ,
Request For Information ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine ,
Temporary Regulations ,
U.S. Treasury
CONGRESS -
Senate and House on Different Government Funding Paths; Shutdown Likely on October 1. The Senate is considering a short-term CR to fund the government through November 17, but final passage appears unlikely...more
10/2/2023
CONGRESS -
Senators Sanders and Marshall Release Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act. Released on September 14, the legislation would reauthorize funding for a number of healthcare workforce programs that are...more
9/20/2023
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Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
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DEA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
GAO ,
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U.S. House
On August 3, 2023, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled on the implementation of the No Surprises Act in Texas Medical Association, et al. v. US Department of Health and Human Services, et al. (TMA...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
9/11/2023
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CMMI ,
Congressional Committees ,
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Department of Labor (DOL) ,
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Drug Pricing ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
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HELP ,
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Long-Term Care ,
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Over-Time ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
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Request For Information ,
Rural Health Care Program ,
Transparency
Congress is officially in recess for the month of August and will return after Labor Day. On the regulatory front, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final fiscal year (FY) 2024 Inpatient...more
8/4/2023
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Billing ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Final Rules ,
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Hospitals ,
Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Part D ,
No Surprises Act (NSA) ,
Patient Prospective Payment System ,
Payment Systems
On August 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule. The rule updates Medicare payment policies and quality reporting...more
The House and Senate were both in session this week, with healthcare activity at the committee level. The House Ways and Means Committee held a markup focused on healthcare transparency and consolidation legislation. The...more
7/28/2023
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Transparency ,
U.S. House
The House and Senate were both in session this week, with healthcare activity at the committee level. The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on innovation and a markup of 15 healthcare bills. The Senate...more
7/24/2023
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
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Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
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Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
HELP Act ,
Legislative Agendas ,
MCOs ,
Medicare ,
Proposed Legislation ,
SAMHSA ,
Senate Committees ,
Technology ,
Telehealth ,
U.S. House ,
Vaccinations
The US House and Senate returned from recess, beginning a three-week sprint toward the August break. The bipartisan healthcare legislation on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and healthcare transparency is moving through both...more