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
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, narrowly advanced the nomination of Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su to serve as permanent Secretary of Labor. The...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
House Passes Legislation to Prohibit Use of QALYs in All Federal Health Programs. The House passed H.R. 485, the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act of 2023, a bill designed to prohibit the use of QALYs and similar...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
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
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released a proposed rule that would seek to regulate laboratory developed tests (LDTs) as medical devices under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). This rule...more
Wednesday, October 25, 2023: Senate Confirmed Nomination of Jessica Looman to Head US DOL’s Wage and Hour Division - Senator Sullivan Only Republican Voting in Favor - By a 51-46 largely party-line vote, the U.S. Senate...more
On October 10, 2023, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a report alleging that certain non-profit hospital systems may not be providing the...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
On June 3, President Biden signed the debt limit legislation into law, averting default and allowing Congress to return to regularly scheduled business. However, that return was short-lived in the House when a small group of...more
Debt Limit Extended . . . Now What? Late last week, Congress reached a bipartisan, bicameral deal to suspend the debt ceiling into 2025. Over the weekend, President Biden signed the bill into law, preventing the United...more
On May 11, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (the “HELP Committee” or the “Committee”) passed a bipartisan bill to expand federal regulation of pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) for group...more