Summary
The House and Senate are both in session this week leading up to Inauguration Day next Monday. The Senate is set to begin nomination hearings for many of President-elect Trump’s nominees. 13 of Mr. Trump’s nominees will appear before the Senate Committees this week, starting with Department of Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. Among the 13 nominees that will appear this week include Attorney General Nominee Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Nominee Marco Rubio, OMB Director Nominee Russell Vought, Secretary of Transportation Nominee Sean Duffy, and Secretary of Homeland Security Nominee Kristi Noem. Not included in this week’s nomination hearings is Mr. Trump’s nominee for HHS Secretary, RFK, Jr., who has not yet been scheduled to appear before the Senate Finance Committee.
The House Committees are also starting their work for the year, with organizing hearings scheduled for many of the Committees. The House Budget Committee is scheduled to hold their first hearing on making permanent the Trump Administration Tax Cuts. While likely to focus on tax policy, this will be the first Committee hearing on what is expected to be a big part of the Republican budget reconciliation effort.
New Committee Membership: House Democrats announced Committee membership last week, finalizing the Committees makeup. Democratic Representatives Brendan Boyle (D-PA); Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) have been named to the Ways and Means Committee while Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY); Jake Auchincloss (D-MA); Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA); Rob Menendez (D-NJ); Kevin Mullin (D-CA); Greg Landsman (D-OH); and Jennifer McClellan (D-VA) were all added to the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Final Days of the Biden Administration: In the final week of the Biden Administration there are still a few more items of business to be done. There are a few rules still pending at OMB that could be released this week, and CMS may to announce the next 15 drugs that will be subject to price negotiations. CMS has until February 1 to release the names of the drugs that will be negotiated under the Inflation Reduction Act, but could release the list this week before the presidential transition occurs
Regulatory Update
In December, the Biden-Harris administration published its last unified agenda. The Fall 2024 Unified Agenda mostly mirrors the Spring 2024 Unified Agenda, with several new items to note. However, the incoming Trump-Vance administration will likely revamp the regulatory agenda, adjusting some items and timelines. Whether these new items are pursued by the incoming administration remains to be seen.
New HHS items in the Fall 2024 Unified Agenda:
- Medicaid: The proposed rule would update existing regulations that govern the process for States to obtain a waiver of the statutory requirements that health care-related taxes are broad based and uniform to ensure that taxes passing the statistical test are generally redistributive (March 2025).
- Cost Sharing: The proposed rule would amend regulations implementing the Affordable Care Act’s provisions related to preventive services and cost sharing protections. Among other actions, this proposed rule would amend the regulations implementing the Affordable Care Act’s requirement to cover recommended preventive services without cost sharing, and address the applicability of drug manufacturer support to the annual limitation on cost sharing for group and individual coverage. It would also address how these provisions would apply to a plan or coverage without an established network (November 2025).
- ESRD ETC Model: The interim final rule would make policy changes to the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Treatment Choices (ETC) Model to account for its effects and effects from other unforeseen circumstances that impair model participant’s ability to perform in the model (March 2025).
We anticipate the Biden-Harris administration will release a few more rules during its last week. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed reviewing the following:
- Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2026 – The final rule sets forth payment parameters and provisions related to the risk adjustment programs; cost-sharing parameters; and user fees for issuers offering plans on Federally-facilitated Exchanges and State-based Exchanges using the Federal platform.
- Tobacco Product Standard – The proposed rule would establish a maximum nicotine level in cigarettes and certain other finished tobacco products.
OMB is also reviewing the following:
- 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).