Summary
Both the House and Senate are in Congress this week as the House will focus will be on demonstrating support for Israel following this weekend’s Iranian led attack and the Senate will deal with the articles of impeachment against Secretary of Homeland Security Alexander Mayorkas. The House will take up 12 bills under suspension of the rules (requiring a two thirds majority vote for passage) and six bills under terms to be set by the House Rules Committee, which would require a simple majority for passage. These bills include measures to make permanent sanctions on Iran that are scheduled to expire at the end of 2026, extend sanctions on members of Hamas and Hezbollah who use civilians as human shields, impose sanctions on Chinese financial institutions that purchase petroleum products from Iran, as well as a bill to impose sanctions on the Houthis in Yemen. Still undetermined is if Speaker Johnson will bring up the Senate passed foreign aid supplemental that includes funds for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, or if he will bring up an Israel-only funding package. The White House, Senate leadership from both parties, and Democratic leadership in the House have all been pressuring the Speaker to pass the $95 billion Senate package, but he has been hamstrung with the threat from a small group of conservative members led by Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) that they will proceed with a motion to vacate his position if he moves forward on aid to Ukraine.
On the Committee front, there will be multiple health focused hearings this week, including a hearing focused on the Change Healthcare cyberattack, improper Medicare and Medicaid funding, Food is Medicine opportunities, and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra will appear before two Congressional Committees in support of the Administration’s FY 2025 budget request.
Hearings
House Energy and Commerce Committee:
On Tuesday the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing to hear from industry experts from across the health care system on what more needs to be done to secure patients’ sensitive health information and protect the health care sector from disruption following the Change Healthcare cyberattack.
Also on Tuesday the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation will hold a hearing to discuss the impacts of improper payments in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce will hold a hearing to discuss legislative solutions to protect kids online and ensure Americans’ data privacy rights. Bills up for discussion include the recently announced American Privacy Rights Act and a bill to require impact assessments of automated decision systems.
On Thursday the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing to examine the President’s proposed budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2025 for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with the HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. Details.
House Education and the Workforce Committee:
On Tuesday the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions will hold a hearing to examine the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) 50th anniversary and opportunities to provide higher quality, lower cost health care.
Senate Appropriations Committee:
On Tuesday the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing to examine the President’s proposed budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2025 for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with the HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Senate Aging Committee:
On Tuesday the Senate Special Committee on Aging will hold a hearing to examine the long-term care workforce, focusing on addressing shortages and improving the profession.
Senate HELP Committee:
On Thursday the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security will hold a hearing to examine feeding a healthier America, focusing on current efforts and potential opportunities for Food is Medicine.
Regulatory Update
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed reviewing a final rule intended to improve access to care and quality outcomes for Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries enrolled in managed care delivery systems.
OMB is also reviewing the following rules:
Medicare
- Alternative Payment Models – The proposed rule would implement a new Medicare payment model titled, Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model (was set for December 2023).
- Nursing Homes – The final rule would establish minimum staffing standards for long-term care facilities and establish Medicaid institutional payment transparency reporting requirements (September 2026).
Medicaid
- Disproportionate Share Hospital Program – The final rule would implement requirements under section 203 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), which relate to Medicaid shortfall and third-party payments (February 2024).
- Access to Care – A final rule intended to improve access to care and quality outcomes for Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries enrolled in fee-for-service Medicaid (April 2024).
- Drug Rebate Program – The final rule would establishes requirements related to manufacturers’ misclassification of covered outpatient drug products under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (MDRP). In addition, it finalizes beneficiary protections, as well as MDRP program integrity and administration changes (June 2024).
Commercial Insurance
- Association Health Plans – The final rule would make changes the definition of employer under ERISA-Association Health Plans (April 2024)
Other Topics:
- Healthcare System Resiliency and Modernization – The proposed rule would revise and update national emergency preparedness requirements for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating providers and suppliers (was set for December 2023).
- Reproductive Health Care Privacy – The final rule would modify the HIPAA Privacy Rule to support reproductive health care privacy (March 20240.
- Health IT – The proposed rule would advance interoperability through proposals for: standards adoption; public health IT certification; expanded uses of certified application programming interfaces (APIs), such as for electronic prior authorization, patient engagement, care management, and care coordination; and information sharing under the information blocking regulations (was set for November 2023).
- Disability – The final rule would revise regulations under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to address discrimination on the basis of disability in HHS-funded programs and activities (April 2024).