Summary
The House returns from a week of recess today and is scheduled to vote on over a dozen bills on suspension, most of which relate to technology and veterans affairs. Still outstanding, with the ability to derail the House agenda, is the motion to vacate that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed prior to the recess. Whether or not she takes the steps necessary to trigger the motion this week is to be determined. The Senate will come into session on Tuesday and is scheduled to vote on a nomination before turning to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill. This is likely to be the last big piece of “must pass” legislation to be considered prior to the November elections.
With all fiscal year (FY) 2024 funding completed, including the foreign aid emergency supplemental, the House Appropriations Committee is wasting no time in moving on to FY 2025. Last week newly minted House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) announced the deadlines for member requests would be Wednesday, May 1 for programmatic requests and Friday, May 3 for community project funding requests. With a compressed schedule, markups could begin as early as May, though resolution on FY 2025 bills won’t occur before the election. The Senate has not yet announced deadlines.
Hearings
House Energy & Commerce Committee: On Tuesday, the Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a legislative hearing on legislation to increase Medicaid access and improve program integrity. Included in the list of legislative bills to be discussed is H.R. 7513, Protecting America’s Seniors Access to Care Act which would prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from finalizing a proposed rule regarding minimum staffing for nursing facilities, and to establish an advisory panel on the skilled nursing facility workforce.
On Wednesday the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled “Examining the Change Healthcare Cyberattack.”
Senate Finance Committee: On Tuesday the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing titled “ Hacking America’s Health Care: Assessing the Change Healthcare Cyber Attack and What’s Next”
Senate HELP Committee: On Thursday the Senate HELP Committee will hold a hearing titled “What Can Congress Do to Address the Severe Shortage of Minority Health Care Professionals and the Maternal Health Crisis?”
Regulatory Update
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed reviewing several FDA final rules, including a final rule to make explicit that laboratory developed tests (LDTs) are subject to the FDA’s device regulations, which was released this morning. Additionally, OMB cleared a proposed rule on the removal of outdated regulations. OMB is also reviewing the following rules:
Medicare
- Calendar Year (CY) Payment Updates: The CY 2025 revisions to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule, the CY 2025 Hospital Outpatient PPS Policy Changes and Payment Rates and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Policy Changes and Payment Rates proposed rule, the CY 2025 Changes to the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System and Quality Incentive Program proposed rule (June 2024), and the CY 2025 Home Health PPS Rate Update proposed rule (June 2024).
- 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).
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).
- 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
- Qualified Health Plans – The final rule would make changes to definitions used to determine when consumers are eligible to enroll in a QHP (was set for November 2023).
- 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).
- 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).