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
Deputy Secretary and CMS Administrator Picks Would Fill Two Critical Policy Positions - On Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee held a confirmation hearing for two of the most important health policy officials nominated...more
Welcome back. This week, the Senate Finance Committee is set to meet privately to discuss the drug pricing legislation being developed by the committee. All signs point to a deal being close with a few outstanding provisions,...more
Foley & Lardner LLP’s (“Foley”) Bipartisan Public Policy Team is pleased to share our “Public Policy Weekly* Health Care Newsletter” in which we compile the latest Health care policy news and legislation. *Please note that we...more
On Friday, May 25, 2018, the Senate unanimously approved a $41.49 billion budget for FY2019. The Senate’s passage of its annual spending plan follows Governor Charlie Baker’s budget proposal made in January and the House...more
On January 9, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new voluntary bundled-payment demonstration program, also known as Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Advanced. The new model will test...more
On December 6, 2016, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) issued a Committee staff report detailing concurrent and overlapping surgery practices. The report also offers...more
On August 8, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced in a blog post reminiscent of a Burger King commercial that physicians and other clinicians can indeed “have it their way” when reporting for...more
The Physician Self-Referral Law, also known as the Stark law, prohibits a physician from referring federal health care program patients for “designated health services” to an entity in which the physician (or an immediate...more
On June 30, 2016, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch released a white paper examining potential reforms to the Federal Stark law. The white paper, entitled “Why Stark, Why Now? Suggestions to Improve the Stark...more
This Week: The President took a victory lap in Wisconsin, announcing that 20 million people have gained health insurance through the Affordable Care Act... That figure includes people newly covered through insurance...more
This Week: The House is not in session this week... The Senate returns today... Committees in the Senate will hold hearings on co-ops and mental health... Vice President Biden will attend the World Economic Forum in...more
The Senate Finance Committee chronic care working group recently released a Policy Options Document continuing an effort that started with a hearing titled, “Chronic Illness: Addressing Patients’ Unmet Needs” in the summer of...more
On December 8, 2015, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the Audit & Appeals Fairness, Integrity, and Reforms in Medicare (AFIRM) Act of 2015 (S. 2368). ...more
On June 3, 2015, the Senate Finance Committee passed an original bill that aims to streamline and improve the Medicare Audit and Appeals Process. The Medicare appeals process has recently faced scrutiny from industry leaders...more